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Diamhea
Eats and Spits Corpses

Joined: Wed Feb 14, 2007 7:46 pm
Posts: 9275
Location: At the Heat of Winter
PostPosted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 9:04 pm 
 

Simple:

Quote:
This is an amazing release, a rare masterpiece of music, as good as it is hard to get your hands on! The only way I could find this metal gem was via MP3 download. I wonder where in earth could my first TDK recorded cassettes be...
Dhak is such an amazing band, sadly a fallen under the radar one and not very known worldwide, though I think in Europe it had a good reception.


Won't fly because of that line break. Just condense it into one paragraph or if you do split it, do it like this (and use this criterion for all paragraphs):

Quote:
This is an amazing release, a rare masterpiece of music, as good as it is hard to get your hands on! The only way I could find this metal gem was via MP3 download. I wonder where in earth could my first TDK recorded cassettes be...

Dhak is such an amazing band, sadly a fallen under the radar one and not very known worldwide, though I think in Europe it had a good reception.


It seems like you separate only some of your paragraphs correctly.
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Leave a steaming, stinking Rotting Repulsive Rotting Corpse = LIVE YOUNG - DIE FREE and move on to the NEXT form of yourself....or just be a fat Wal-Mart Mcdonalds pc of shit what do I give a fuck what you do.

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DonnTD1
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2014 3:46 pm
Posts: 10
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 2:49 pm 
 

This is more of a general reviewing question: Is having a comparison or reference to another band in reviews really necessary, e.g. "band X has a sound like that of band Y..." or is it acceptable to focus solely on the album you're reviewing, with no outside context? I'm working on a review but have no outside references.
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Diamhea
Eats and Spits Corpses

Joined: Wed Feb 14, 2007 7:46 pm
Posts: 9275
Location: At the Heat of Winter
PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 3:35 pm 
 

DonnTD1 wrote:
This is more of a general reviewing question: Is having a comparison or reference to another band in reviews really necessary, e.g. "band X has a sound like that of band Y..." or is it acceptable to focus solely on the album you're reviewing, with no outside context? I'm working on a review but have no outside references.


That is fine within acceptable context, but don't dwell on it.
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nuclearskull wrote:
Leave a steaming, stinking Rotting Repulsive Rotting Corpse = LIVE YOUNG - DIE FREE and move on to the NEXT form of yourself....or just be a fat Wal-Mart Mcdonalds pc of shit what do I give a fuck what you do.

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DCCLXXVII
Metal newbie

Joined: Sat Aug 16, 2014 10:04 pm
Posts: 212
PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 6:45 pm 
 

Curious to see what people thought of my reviews.

http://www.metal-archives.com/users/DCCLXXVII

They're pretty amateur in my opinion, but I want to know what everyone else thinks.
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Diamhea
Eats and Spits Corpses

Joined: Wed Feb 14, 2007 7:46 pm
Posts: 9275
Location: At the Heat of Winter
PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 7:28 pm 
 

DCCLXXVII wrote:
Curious to see what people thought of my reviews.

http://www.metal-archives.com/users/DCCLXXVII

They're pretty amateur in my opinion, but I want to know what everyone else thinks.


Well...they are acceptable. Thus: their acceptance.

They are better than the ones you did under your old user name, which had the proclivity to just go on and on, especially when you were fond of a particular work.
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nuclearskull wrote:
Leave a steaming, stinking Rotting Repulsive Rotting Corpse = LIVE YOUNG - DIE FREE and move on to the NEXT form of yourself....or just be a fat Wal-Mart Mcdonalds pc of shit what do I give a fuck what you do.

Last.fm

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The Infamous Bastard
Metal newbie

Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2013 7:47 am
Posts: 310
PostPosted: Sat Sep 13, 2014 7:10 am 
 

DOUBLE POST. See below.


Last edited by The Infamous Bastard on Sat Sep 13, 2014 7:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
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The Infamous Bastard
Metal newbie

Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2013 7:47 am
Posts: 310
PostPosted: Sat Sep 13, 2014 7:11 am 
 

Hello there,

After several years of trying to write good album reviews, I have come to this extent;

http://www.metal-archives.com/reviews/D ... ard/326326

I still think I have missed out a lot of things that a good album review should cover. Any tips? Any comments on this above review in particular (except that few vocabularies used are wrong for the given context, I later realized)? (The first paragraph should have been a little shorter IMO, or the other part after the first paragraph should have been a little longer provided the huge introductory context, I guess). I generally listen to albums for around 3 to 5 times before writing a review, and then constantly listening to them more in the process of writing them.

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Erosion of Humanity
Destroyer of the Gods

Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2012 5:12 pm
Posts: 5898
Location: over yon hill
PostPosted: Sat Sep 13, 2014 10:30 pm 
 

Without even reading it I can say your paragraphs are way too long. It just puts me off and makes it so I don't want to even bother reading, an eye sore really. Try breaking it up a bit, I'd rather read eight good sized paragraphs than four monstrous ones.
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MutantClannfear
Blank Czech

Joined: Thu May 27, 2010 12:12 am
Posts: 3624
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sat Sep 13, 2014 11:08 pm 
 

Erosion of Humanity wrote:
Without even reading it I can say your paragraphs are way too long. It just puts me off and makes it so I don't want to even bother reading, an eye sore really. Try breaking it up a bit, I'd rather read eight good sized paragraphs than four monstrous ones.

Personally, I disagree - I feel like reviews with too many short paragraphs tend to feel fragmented or unfocused. I like it best when a writer just hunkers down and, in one hulking mass, elaborates upon everything they have to say about a particular aspect of the album they're reviewing.

EDIT: Regarding this specific review, though, I feel like a lot of the length can be attributed to superfluous things. There's no need to quote an interview from the vocalist just to show that he says "it's not like normal death metal" - that much should be evident based on your musical description - or to talk about what UgraKarma are doing. Also, referencing the Metal Archives inside the review by telling readers to "[not] get mistaken with the ‘Similar Artists’ recommendations" feels kind of awkward, almost like breaking the fourth wall.
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Last edited by MutantClannfear on Sat Sep 13, 2014 11:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Erosion of Humanity
Destroyer of the Gods

Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2012 5:12 pm
Posts: 5898
Location: over yon hill
PostPosted: Sat Sep 13, 2014 11:21 pm 
 

Ehhhh, personal taste I guess we'll just have to disagree. Mind you though I'm not talking about having like 15 three to four sentence paragraphs I'm just talking about breaking the long winded ones in half.
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mjollnir
Metalhead

Joined: Sat Jul 17, 2004 4:14 pm
Posts: 2056
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sat Sep 13, 2014 11:25 pm 
 

Erosion of Humanity wrote:
Ehhhh, personal taste I guess we'll just have to disagree. Mind you though I'm not talking about having like 15 three to four sentence paragraphs I'm just talking about breaking the long winded ones in half.


I agree. That Slayer666 guy is another one that uses a bunch of giant walls of text. It instantly puts me off. This is not on paper, this is reading on a computer screen. Those huge walls of text are not friendly to the eye.
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Diamhea wrote:
TrooperEd wrote:
Edit: fuck it this whole thing is bait anyway.


Like your reviews?

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The Infamous Bastard
Metal newbie

Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2013 7:47 am
Posts: 310
PostPosted: Sat Sep 13, 2014 11:34 pm 
 

Thanks a lot.

I guess, I've developed this habit of writing long paragraphs because of numerous long academic assignments that I have to write. Personally, I don't like smaller paragraphs.

MutantClannfear wrote:
EDIT: Regarding this specific review, though, I feel like a lot of the length can be attributed to superfluous things. There's no need to quote an interview from the vocalist just to show that he says "it's not like normal death metal" - that much should be evident based on your musical description - or to talk about what UgraKarma are doing. Also, referencing the Metal Archives inside the review (by telling readers to "[not] get mistaken with the ‘Similar Artists’ recommendations") feels kind of awkward, almost like breaking the fourth wall.


Hmmm. Noted.

I guess I should do a bit of editing again and resubmit it, also due to few vocabulary redundancies lol.

Apart from that, is the musical description enough? Redundant information?

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Diamhea
Eats and Spits Corpses

Joined: Wed Feb 14, 2007 7:46 pm
Posts: 9275
Location: At the Heat of Winter
PostPosted: Sat Sep 13, 2014 11:50 pm 
 

As noted when I approved this review, the paragraphs are indeed slightly too large, but not so large that we can reject the review on these grounds alone. The descriptions are exhaustive and coherently laid-out, so kudos there. One critique I have is that you should really shy away from mentioning other reviewers, especially by name in your writings. Some may also find your exaggeratedly abstruse writing style flippant and/or self-aggrandizing, but it can be argued that this is the cornerstone of your writing style at this point. Overall, I enjoyeod this better than most, but it definitely has some flaws.
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Leave a steaming, stinking Rotting Repulsive Rotting Corpse = LIVE YOUNG - DIE FREE and move on to the NEXT form of yourself....or just be a fat Wal-Mart Mcdonalds pc of shit what do I give a fuck what you do.

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The Infamous Bastard
Metal newbie

Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2013 7:47 am
Posts: 310
PostPosted: Sun Sep 14, 2014 1:43 am 
 

^ Thanks for the positive criticism!!

Diamhea wrote:
Some may also find your exaggeratedly abstruse writing style flippant and/or self-aggrandizing, but it can be argued that this is the cornerstone of your writing style at this point.


You mean I'm being pretty esoteric and verbose, and that it's a cornerstone of my writing at this point?

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colin040
Metal freak

Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2007 6:00 pm
Posts: 7607
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 1:31 pm 
 

Paradise Lost - Tragic Idol review over here.

Spoiler: show
I’ll start off with what bugs the most about /Tragic Idol/ which is that the album refers far too often to the last or their earlier albums which is odd, considering Paradise Lost always seemed to be a band that moved forward. Here it sounds like they’re somewhat stuck and try to appeal to fans of their heavier material while playing it safe. That does not mean that /Tragic Idol/ is a copy of any of their earlier outputs, but I just miss that freshness that I had hoped for. I can only think of what could have been had the band dared a bit more but alas that’s not the case this time.

‘’Solitary One’’ sounds like a leftover from the previous album: a slow, dark piece in the vein of ‘’As Horizons End’’ or perhaps ‘’First Light’’, though this one has no intro to prepare for the dark, isolation it brings with moody guitars wailing all over the place, dramatic keys and Nick’s almost schizophrenic vocal delivery: switching between vulgar (but controlled) shouting and weary, innocent clean vocals (although they’re not clean in a pretty sense.) This is by far the most inaccessible song the band had written in years. There’s nothing catchy or fun about it and the first time few times I’ve scratched my head after the song ended which was pretty sudden. A weird pick for an opener, but definitely a solid song nonetheless.

The rest of the album isn’t quite as adventurous, but still enjoyable. ‘’Honesty in Death’’ structure-wise is somewhat reminiscent of the /Icon/ days with extremely simplistic rousing leads and boomy riffs backed up by Nick’s commanding presence. ‘’In This we Dwell’’ and ‘’To The Darkness’’ are surprisingly upbeat tracks and more original tunes. The former containing somewhat Iron Maiden-esque leads and stomping gallop riffing while the latter embrace bursting groove.

Finally I feel that Nick Holmes’ vocal lines on /Tragic Idol/ aren’t as effective as they could have been. His gentle clean vocals are still present, but his vocal lines are mostly solid and effective. His semi-harsh vocal attack, on the other hand, dominates certain songs and would have worked 20 years ago but nowadays comes of rather doubtful at times. Still, he, along with the other band members are doing what they do best and I feel there’s not much to complain about. If anything I could do without the processed guitar tone Aaron and Greg still play on. Such mesmerising leads and crunchy riffs would sound much better on a more organic guitar tone.

One thing /Tragic Idol/ does well, is keeping consistent – more so than their previous album. ‘’Theories From another World’’ features some slightly more ‘’evil’’ riffs on the album but doesn’t quite make it and I had no idea what the purpose of ‘’Worth Fighting For’’ was, but most of the time I enjoyed listening to every second on this album and while I expected Paradise Lost to take some few more steps forward, it at least seems obvious that the do what they love again. Congratulations guys, you’ve managed not to fuck up – just try a little harder next time will you?

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Diamhea
Eats and Spits Corpses

Joined: Wed Feb 14, 2007 7:46 pm
Posts: 9275
Location: At the Heat of Winter
PostPosted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 1:51 pm 
 

Not sure if it is just an artifact of your copy-paste, but obviously you want to use proper quotations, not /this/.
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nuclearskull wrote:
Leave a steaming, stinking Rotting Repulsive Rotting Corpse = LIVE YOUNG - DIE FREE and move on to the NEXT form of yourself....or just be a fat Wal-Mart Mcdonalds pc of shit what do I give a fuck what you do.

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Dysentry
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Wed Aug 21, 2013 9:47 pm
Posts: 2
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Thu Sep 18, 2014 6:53 am 
 

I wrote a review for Armoros' Pieces a few weeks ago. Now I get the feeling that there're some contradiction between my review and the rating I've given.

Could someone give feedback?

Spoiler: show
Until now.

Back in 2008 when Brazilian Marquee Records released the box set ''Armoros: The Anthology'', the name Armoros was unknown for most of the Canadian scene (Other than ''Jed Simon's old band before SYL''). It was supposed to be released by EverRat Records but it never happened, eventually the album made it's way through tape trading. Of course it goes with saying that this album is criminally underrated: this is type of thrash that would nicely fit in with albums like ''Spectrum of Death'', ''Epidemic of Violence'', ''Pleasure to Kill'' and ''Darkness Descends''. It's that brutal.

Formed in 1985, Armoros started to rise slowly in the BC metal scene. After playing a ton of shows, and releasing 3 demos (and oddly enough a live album called Live in Victoria, which used to be on Youtube), the guys competed at a Battle of the Bands show in Vancouver, only to end on the 2nd place (1st went to Vancouver's Karrion). Eventually they were awarded recording time at Profile Studios, and here the masterpiece named Pieces was recorded (Leslie's Metal, 2009). It was never released and due to the positioning of Victoria on the map, travel became problematic for the band to travel since the ferry ride to elsewhere would take up most of their gig profits.(The Book of Armageddon #4, 1989).

This album kicks off with Forever CMDK which is great instrumental... or not at all, at 3:05 we get to meet Rick Lee for the first time. Most of his vocals come close to Tom Araya, which frankly isn't surprising: Rick plays bass and the band covered Hell Awaits on their live album. The comparison works but we stumble upon a problem: Rick doesn't do shrieks which means his screams end up quick and... anticlimactic. Fortunately, the same cannot be said of the guitars. An all out attack of solos and riffs which closely follow each other, that's pretty much an overall description of this album. The main example can be found at 4:15 of Remember Michelle where the guitars and the bass follow the their own pattern which leads to a great result. Sudden tempo changes get bonus points in my book and this album follows exactly that idea with the 2:15 mark at Apparition of Force which leads to solo exchanges by Jed and Mike only to continue in the brutality. Continuing, Euphoria has an galloping riff which is surely a neckbreaker. The solos by Jed are mostly build-ups for his upcoming bands, one of the few brutal thrash guitarists who uses extensive harmonizing on his solos, and that's one of the reason what make this album excellent.

On the other hands, this album has definitely it's flaws which could be executed better and I can exactly understand the band with the idea of going back in time to correct these points. For instance, Terry Gloom takes a Paul Bostaph approach on drumming with little to no fills and too much focus on speed (which he executes superb by the way). The songs do not have enough individuality and don't get me wrong, they do not sound alike but where there isn't an overall theme or a direct message, it feels like the band collected their old songs, put them on random positions and recorded it (which they did actually).

Fan of obscure Canadian brutal almost-death-but-not-quite thrash? Then this is a must for you. I would also recommend Tenet's Sovereign album from 2009 which features an all-star line-up and Crown of Thorns is actually an Armoros song. (Leslie's Metal, 2009) Who would have thought of that?

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Diamhea
Eats and Spits Corpses

Joined: Wed Feb 14, 2007 7:46 pm
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Location: At the Heat of Winter
PostPosted: Thu Sep 18, 2014 10:22 am 
 

Candidly, this review has more pressing flaws than this supposed dearth of gradation regarding content vs. numerical rating. It is somewhat heavy-handed on the history lessons, and while this has some merit (as there is a relatively worthwhile backstory concerning the record, being unreleased and everything) - but I would personally like to see a more in-depth appraisal of the music itself. This is the band's only full-length release, so lack of material with which to review is not a valid excuse.

While I don't place too much merit behind the scores themselves, 98% does seem a bit high, inflated either by some perceived boost due to scarcity of actual product, or by some strange connection the writer feels due to the aforementioned bonding period with the material itself. It is important to not let these 'aggravating' factors impact the final score too much, which should at least make an attempt at being subjective and fair.

There you go.
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nuclearskull wrote:
Leave a steaming, stinking Rotting Repulsive Rotting Corpse = LIVE YOUNG - DIE FREE and move on to the NEXT form of yourself....or just be a fat Wal-Mart Mcdonalds pc of shit what do I give a fuck what you do.

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Erosion of Humanity
Destroyer of the Gods

Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2012 5:12 pm
Posts: 5898
Location: over yon hill
PostPosted: Thu Sep 18, 2014 12:11 pm 
 

First and foremost: get rid of all that citing bull shit. This isn't a college paper, if you feel like you need to add work cited then you should just cut that part from your review. The point isn't to quote a bunch of shit other people said (which to me borders on plagiarism, but I'm no mod so whatever).

Looking forward I agree with Diamhea in that it does feel a bit like a history lesson (I recommend cutting the entire second paragraph) which is just boring frankly. Anyone who knows the band most likely knows the history and for the rest of us, well I doubt anyone really cares all that much, I sure don't. What's up the the beginning, "Until now"? Does it tie in with the title of your review? Also get rid of the recommendations at the end that just doesn't feel right.

Grammatically you look to be fine except towrds the bottom you said "superb" when you should have said "superbly". That's all I got.
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Dysentry
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Wed Aug 21, 2013 9:47 pm
Posts: 2
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Thu Sep 18, 2014 7:21 pm 
 

Diamhea wrote:
Candidly, this review has more pressing flaws than this supposed dearth of gradation regarding content vs. numerical rating. It is somewhat heavy-handed on the history lessons, and while this has some merit (as there is a relatively worthwhile backstory concerning the record, being unreleased and everything) - but I would personally like to see a more in-depth appraisal of the music itself. This is the band's only full-length release, so lack of material with which to review is not a valid excuse.

While I don't place too much merit behind the scores themselves, 98% does seem a bit high, inflated either by some perceived boost due to scarcity of actual product, or by some strange connection the writer feels due to the aforementioned bonding period with the material itself. It is important to not let these 'aggravating' factors impact the final score too much, which should at least make an attempt at being subjective and fair.

There you go.

Yeah, I went into this album with wrong mindset ("first review, yes"). The only reason to include the history behind the band was to have a central place where people could look-up info, but that's only interesting for the fans and has very little to do with a review. The rating is too high, the problem was that I was trying to please my thoughts since the album has a high position in my library, no objectivity here. Was it influenced by it's scarcity? Yes, sadly.
"Youhavetolistentothisalbumbecausethebandhasnthadenoughattention" Need to fix that too.

In terms of the citing, I wanted to create a signature style which sounds good in the first place but doesn't have any reason to be there.

Basically, it comes down to deleting 2 paragraphs and focusing more on the music. Thanks guys.

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colin040
Metal freak

Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2007 6:00 pm
Posts: 7607
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Sat Sep 20, 2014 9:05 am 
 

Final version of this Paradise Lost review I've been busy with the last period.

Spoiler: show
Paradise Lost. What does one think of when hearing this band? A once amazing doom/death metal band that turned to shit after their second album? A band full of surprises that nailed every style they played? For me it's neither, but I should say that I'm only into their metallic outputs. It's just something I feel the band does the best and most natural. Anyone familiar with their recent stylistic changes should know that they've been back on the metal road for a while after playing gothic rock for some years and no matter which album of these guys you prefer, you know that each of their albums sound like no other and is unique in its own right.

...Except for this time, perhaps. ‘’Solitary One’’ sounds like a leftover from the previous album: a slow, dark piece in the vein of ‘’As Horizons End’’ or perhaps ‘’First Light’’, though this one has no intro to prepare for the dark isolation it brings with moody guitars wailing all over the place, dramatic keys and Nick’s almost schizophrenic vocal delivery: switching between vulgar (but controlled) shouting and weary, innocent clean vocals (although they’re not clean in a pretty sense.) This is by far the most inaccessible song the band have written in years and the first times I've heard it, I would scratch my head by the end of it. A weird pick for an opener, but definitely a great song nonetheless.

The rest of the album is far more accessible but still enjoyable - although after a few tracks you know what you're going to get which is somewhat a pity. ‘’Honesty in Death’’ is structure-wise somewhat reminiscent of the Icon days with extremely simplistic rousing leads and thudding riffs backed up by Nick’s commanding presence. ‘’In This we Dwell’’ and ‘’To The Darkness’’ are surprisingly upbeat tracks and more original tunes. The former containing somewhat Iron Maiden-esque leads and stomping gallop riffing while the latter embrace bursting groove. Closing track ''The Glorious End'' isn't as heavy as the former tracks, but features one of the best leads on the entire album with windy, powerful yet retained guitar approach not really too far removed from the <i>Draconian Times</i> days.


Finally I feel that Nick Holmes’ vocal lines on <i>Tragic Idol</i> aren’t as effective as they could have been. His gentle clean vocals are still present, but his vocal lines are mostly solid and effective. His semi-harsh vocal attack, on the other hand, dominates certain songs and would have worked 20 years ago but nowadays comes of rather doubtful at times. Still, he, along with the other band members are doing what they do best and I feel there’s not much to complain about. If anything I could do without the processed guitar tone Aaron and Greg still play on. Such mesmerizing leads and crunchy riffs would sound much better on a more organic guitar tone.

One thing <i>Tragic Idol</i> does well, is keeping consistent – more so than their previous album. Even softer tunes Paradise Lost always had trouble with pulling off to my ears, such as ''Fear of Impending Hell'' and the titled track are somewhat fun to listen. The former being somewhat a half ballad with delicate verses and a hard hitting chorus and the latter features an explosive chorus I don't find it surprising that it gets played live so often nowadays. Congratulations guys, you’ve managed not to fuck up – just try a little harder next time will you?

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Diamhea
Eats and Spits Corpses

Joined: Wed Feb 14, 2007 7:46 pm
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 20, 2014 9:53 am 
 

...and that is accepted now :thumbsup:
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nuclearskull wrote:
Leave a steaming, stinking Rotting Repulsive Rotting Corpse = LIVE YOUNG - DIE FREE and move on to the NEXT form of yourself....or just be a fat Wal-Mart Mcdonalds pc of shit what do I give a fuck what you do.

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jakster840
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 3:07 pm
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Location: United States
PostPosted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 9:33 am 
 

Here is a review I wrote about a month ago for Exivious' Liminal. I would love to read y'alls thoughts and suggestions. Thanks in advance!


Liminal, Exivious' highly anticipated second offering is a lush and balanced hybrid of metal, jazz, and progressive elements that comes across as quickly and equally as serious in the same breath. This is the first time that Exivious' members have been able to write entirely their own material. The majority of the material on Exivious' debut was written by Tymon who would establish a base line and a sense of direction for each song, then allow his band mates to improvise and their own flare to the music. The result is wonderful melding of styles and ideas, seamless and balanced.

Liminal is a grab bag of sounds with tons of variety and equally as much heart. The album is progressive, jazzy, and ambient and places more emphasis on feel than on precision. Each song reflects a different light, but still manages to stay within the same spectrum throughout the album's course. The album has slower, tamer moments like the catchy, but unvaried Alphaform and the soothing, washed number "Movement." It also features less restrained, more upbeat moments like the bouncy and exciting "One's Glow." Quirky moments like "Triguna" (especially its oddly satisfying and discordant finish) and the alto saxophone solo on "Deeply Woven" surface every now and then to add some interesting flavor.

Exivious masterfully play their instruments, lay down immersive ambient sections, and maintain a high level quality of production that really draw the listener in. Contributing to this are the absolutely exquisite guitar tones (thank you Axe FX II), groovy fretless bass rhythms, and exciting drum lines. The complex main riff, and accompanying solos, of "Deeply Woven" will turn heads and if that does not float your boat, then the more nebulous opener "Entrust" may be more your speed. Another moment not to be missed is the beautiful opening solo on "Open" which uses a combination of a jazzy approach and an airy, slightly distorted tone to give it a beautiful edge. Closing out the album is the phenomenal "Immanent" which manages to be heavy while still maintaining the grace carried by the other songs. The cord progression coupled with the double bass from the drums at the end of "Immanent" really seals the deal though and ends the record on a mysterious high note.

Adventurous, eclectic, and cohesive, Liminal stands alone against other progressive metal albums as a truly diverse and solid album. This time, each band member to contribute stylistically to the overall sound. This unity of direction, above all other aspects, gives Liminal the foundation for its distinct sound. Exivious have added yet another brilliant gem to their portfolio rife with undeniable character and infinite nuance.

My favorites songs are “Triguna,” “Open,” and “Immanent.”

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Diamhea
Eats and Spits Corpses

Joined: Wed Feb 14, 2007 7:46 pm
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 11:42 am 
 

Spoiler: show
Image


I find few problems with this. The only deficiency that really stands out to me is the structure of the third paragraph, which shoots through a number of tracks in a somewhat mechanical manner. That can probably be restructured in a more appealing way.
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Leave a steaming, stinking Rotting Repulsive Rotting Corpse = LIVE YOUNG - DIE FREE and move on to the NEXT form of yourself....or just be a fat Wal-Mart Mcdonalds pc of shit what do I give a fuck what you do.

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Twi_inatrix
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2014 1:32 pm
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Location: United States
PostPosted: Sat Oct 04, 2014 7:17 pm 
 

Like a retard, I managed to miss this thread and bumble into submitting my review before discovering this. Oh well, at least I can still ask for criticism here while it's in waiting. Hopefully it's not reject material!

Acid Bath - When the Kite String Pops
Score: 85%

Spoiler: show
When the Kite Sting Pops is the first full-length album from (once) criminally underrated band Acid Bath. Despite never really reaching popularity during their life span, this album has achieved a cult following over the years. A sort of, 'Baby's first obscure metal album', if you will. With that said, I believe that the album is solid and deserves the praise it has achieved, despite the hype that now surrounds it.

First off, the album's cover is worth noticing. The art is directly lifted from a painting of pedophilic serial-killer John Wayne Gacy, and to its side is the band's name and the album title sloppily written. Despite looking <i>slightly</i> on the edge of laziness, the art reflects the atmosphere captured by the album surprisingly well. The album has an impressive run-time of an hour and nine minutes. Acid Bath's style is hard to pin, as it draws influences from sludge, doom, death, and even some thrash thrown in. Almost every song is dominated by a droning guitar noise diluted with feedback. When reading about the band, I was surprised to find that there were two guitarists, which is pretty telling. The band makes terrible use of the variety that could have been achieved with the extra instrument. Nether the less, while the riffs are kept simple, I was never bored listening through them. Excellent use is made of the bass, audible over the distortion and not falling into the usual from of just imitating a piss-weak version of the guitar's riff. Both Guitarists Sammy Pierre and Mike Sanchez and bassist Audie Pitre provide backing screams, but Dax Riggs takes the spotlight. Dax's vocals are perfectly fitted for the style of the album, and they're easily the cause of the strongest moments.

Coming back to the atmosphere of the album, the lyrical themes are all psychological in one way or another. Attempting to write dark, aggressive lyrics in metal is something attempted often...and almost always fails. <b>Miserably</b>. Acid Bath's undertaking at this often 'less-than-stellar' style is probably the best that there is. For the most part, it abandons the pathetically overused attempts to appear 'bad-ass'. Gone are the screams of 'I'm going ta' kick ya' ass, punk!", replaced by themes of torture, distress, and of course, insanity. This writing style pays off, and is incredibly refreshing.

The album kicks off with 'The Blue'. The introduction is decent, providing a variety of tempo changes and a switch between distorted and clean vocals, even if the lyrics are un-inspired. 'Tranquilized' is a much more interesting track, featuring a great range from Dax's vocals and riffs that you'd be hard pressed not to want to move your body to. 'Cheap Vodka' and 'Jezebel' show thrash roots, but don't feel like a good fit for the band. The unique style finally starts to show through with 'Finger Paintings of the Insane'. Despite somewhat of a dragging performance of the verses, this song is aggressive, featuring un-settling lyrics and excellent riffs throughout. Finally the album reaches a midpoint with fan-favorite track 'The Scream of the Butterfly'. This song is acoustic, surprisingly, and has lovely contrast to the songs before. It features easily the greatest writing and creates an almost creeping atmosphere, the bass line sinking in the flesh and the drums hammering away. 'Dr. Seuss is Dead' and 'Dope Fiend' are the most sludgy tracks in the album. They are much more entertaining than the first few tracks, although the latter has a slightly ear grating section. 'Toubabo Koomi', "What Color is Death', and 'God Machine' are the fastest and heaviest the album has to offer, while 'The Mortician's Flame' tones it down a little, letting Dax's clean vocals provide excellent contrast to the wall of noise from the guitars. 'The Bones of Baby Dolls' is the second acoustic track. It features the vocals distorted, and combed with Dax's melodic singing they sound almost ethereal. The album finishes with 'Cassie Eats Cockroaches', a pounding mid-pace track that wraps the album up nicely.

So, despite me sucking this album's dick for the past few paragraphs, why the much less than perfect rating? Earlier, I mentioned that this is the best attempt at making dark, 'edgy' songwriting that there was. Unfortunately, this isn't saying too much. This album's themes push too hard sometimes, and come off as almost laughable. The most guilty part of this is the overuse of 'fuck'. Now, this could be overseen, considering it does help empower some of the verses in which it is used, especially in context. However, it just feels childish when it appears over six times in a single song, especially when it ruins the atmosphere of some of the best songs in the albums by suddenly screaming "Motherfucker, yeah!' in what feels like a throwaway 'bad-dude' manner. Second, many of the tracks unfortunately mesh together, evidenced by how quickly I began to group them together later in the album.

However, despite my negative reactions, 'When the Kite String Pops' is one of a kind. Anyone who is interested in experimental metal, or hell, is a fan of metal in general, should give this album a listen. Even if the flaws disrupt your enjoyment, the uniqueness of this offering cannot be denied.

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psiguen
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2013 3:00 pm
Posts: 2
Location: Spain
PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2014 12:55 pm 
 

Me tenéis hasta los cojones con vuestras mierdas. Si escribo Portuguese es incorrecto, pero ahora tengo que capitalizar spanish y mexican... Mis reseñas están bastante mejor escritas que algunas publicadas
Y no, no pienso escribir esto en inglés. Estoy harto de ciertos moderadores (no daré nombres, no sea que me baneen...). Qué miedo, por cierto...

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Diamhea
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Joined: Wed Feb 14, 2007 7:46 pm
Posts: 9275
Location: At the Heat of Winter
PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2014 12:59 pm 
 

psiguen wrote:
Me tenéis hasta los cojones con vuestras mierdas. Si escribo Portuguese es incorrecto, pero ahora tengo que capitalizar spanish y mexican... Mis reseñas están bastante mejor escritas que algunas publicadas
Y no, no pienso escribir esto en inglés. Estoy harto de ciertos moderadores (no daré nombres, no sea que me baneen...). Qué miedo, por cierto...


Spoiler: show
Image


Twi_inatrix: Overall coherent and detailed, but your fourth paragraph devolves into a track-by-track rundown that is universally frowned upon for anything longer than an EP. Honestly, I would have probably rejected it and asked you to fix that section, but it is done better than most, and the rest of the review is good.
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Wilytank
Not a Flying Toy

Joined: Thu Jul 30, 2009 7:21 am
Posts: 5861
Location: 717
PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2014 2:24 pm 
 

psiguen wrote:
Me tenéis hasta los cojones con vuestras mierdas. Si escribo Portuguese es incorrecto, pero ahora tengo que capitalizar spanish y mexican... Mis reseñas están bastante mejor escritas que algunas publicadas
Y no, no pienso escribir esto en inglés. Estoy harto de ciertos moderadores (no daré nombres, no sea que me baneen...). Qué miedo, por cierto...



Google Translate wrote:
I you have until the balls with your shit. If write Portuguese is wrong, but now I have to capitalize spanish and mexican ... My reviews are much better written than some published
And no, I'm not going to write this in English. I'm sick of certain moderators (I will not give names, lest baneen me ...). Scary, indeed ...


Quote:
I you have until the balls with your shit.


:| :lol:
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MutantClannfear
Blank Czech

Joined: Thu May 27, 2010 12:12 am
Posts: 3624
Location: United States
PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2014 4:11 pm 
 

He's saying "You have me up to my balls with your shit." Not that that's much better.

psiguen: Pienso que ahora estás bloqueado, pero si lees esto, quien te dijo que no escribas la "P" en "Portuguese" con mayúscula estuvo equivocado - en inglés, las iniciales de los nombres de todos los paises se escriben en letras mayúsculas. Disculpe por mi mal español.
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Last edited by MutantClannfear on Mon Oct 06, 2014 5:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Metantoine
Slave to Santa

Joined: Sat Jun 21, 2008 5:00 pm
Posts: 12030
Location: Montréal
PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2014 4:43 pm 
 

He's been banned already, maybe you're used to ignore diamhea's gifs lol.
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MutantClannfear
Blank Czech

Joined: Thu May 27, 2010 12:12 am
Posts: 3624
Location: United States
PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2014 4:45 pm 
 

Am I supposed to take those GIFs seriously? Anyways, I was just giving him some helpful English orthographic tips for the future! :(
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DCCLXXVII
Metal newbie

Joined: Sat Aug 16, 2014 10:04 pm
Posts: 212
PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2014 4:47 pm 
 

I thought there was a tacit agreement to ignore them...
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Twi_inatrix
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2014 1:32 pm
Posts: 2
Location: United States
PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2014 8:32 pm 
 

Diamhea wrote:
Twi_inatrix: Overall coherent and detailed, but your fourth paragraph devolves into a track-by-track rundown that is universally frowned upon for anything longer than an EP. Honestly, I would have probably rejected it and asked you to fix that section, but it is done better than most, and the rest of the review is good.


Thanks for looking at it! I was worried a bit about that section, but decided to leave it as is because it seemed concise enough that it felt like more of a slightly more detailed description of the album's tone.

I'll try to avoid it completely next time I write something.

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psiguen
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2013 3:00 pm
Posts: 2
Location: Spain
PostPosted: Mon Oct 06, 2014 8:40 pm 
 

Yes, I have been banned. But I explained things to HellBlazer and Diamhea, and they lift the banning. Mutantclannfear, I knew I was right with capitalization on nationalities and languages, thank you anyway I knew Portuguese, Spanish and Mexican were correctly written in capitals. That's what I remembered from my old school days.
However, Google translator didn't translate my post properly...

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Azmodes
Ultranaut

Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2007 10:44 am
Posts: 11196
Location: Ob der Enns, Austria
PostPosted: Tue Oct 07, 2014 7:01 am 
 

Yeah, they're capitalised. So what was the problem with the rejection(s)? I doubt the mods gave you contradictory rejection messages about that.
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FuckHumanity
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Wed Sep 10, 2014 2:09 pm
Posts: 5
PostPosted: Thu Oct 09, 2014 3:36 pm 
 

This is my first ever review and it has been rejected twice because as they said: "lacks in musical context and appearance", so I would really appreciate some help here.

[size=85]"Human Serpent is definitely a smart band that respects all the offered dignity in their creativity personality. Their debut album '' The Gradual Immersion In Nihilism'' is violent and It genuinely wants to make you feel ''Nothing'', there is no sense of peace anywhere to be found.. Human Serpent kick it off with 8 Master crafted pieces of pure black metal with devotion to the new era of Misanthropy...

Guitars range from slow to mid-paced and fast black metal riffs that are very aggressive sounding with some dark sounding melodies and depressive feel, also there are leads present on this recording. The growls are primitively and destructively raw, the drums are guite dynamic compared to most black metal sound and are almost in consition with the guitars.. Bass lines are jugular-pumping and constantly audible, though they are a bit safe in the notation and really just follow the structure of the rhythm guitars, unable to add another level of depth or atmosphere when you listen at a distance. This combination of the guitar with the vocals, the druns and the bass creates an atmosphere that surrounded me with the feelings of aggression and hatred, as well as, depression and sadness. This is black metal in the vein of the very old tradition of Skandianavian and Greek sound, but I really liked the way they built a solid personality..

As far as the production is concerned, it has a very dark, raw and primitive sound to it. It is Very good. The artwork is a nihilistic portrait and it is like the last piece of the puzzle that connects the band. It is truly fantastic.

I really recommend this band if you are looking for new names coming from Greece, it is a must-listen for anyone who likes the oldschool Underground Sound.. Overall this is a nihilistic album, not boring, raw, and quite different.

Recommended Tracks: All
Highlight Tracks: ''The Gradual Immersion In Nihilism'' And ''Chapel Of Bones''"

Human Serpent - The Gradual Immersion In Nihilism
Title: Homage For Misanthropy Grade: 92%

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Grave_Wyrm
Metal Sloth

Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2012 5:55 pm
Posts: 3928
PostPosted: Thu Oct 09, 2014 4:03 pm 
 

One period at the end of sentences, capitalization only where appropriate, etc. basic grammar notes. Proofreading and spell check mandatory.

It looks as though English isn't your strongest language. Is this true?
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Diamhea
Eats and Spits Corpses

Joined: Wed Feb 14, 2007 7:46 pm
Posts: 9275
Location: At the Heat of Winter
PostPosted: Thu Oct 09, 2014 4:20 pm 
 

The main paragraph paints some passable descriptive pictures, but it is a very mechanical and predictable instrument-by-instrument checklist. Then you scantly touch on the production and call it a day. You should try citing specific sections/tracks to prove some of your points. Don't just say "black metal riffs that are very aggressive sounding with some dark sounding melodies," say that and adduce and example by drawing upon a specific section or a song itself. Try elaborating on your points, and structure the waning half of the review better, as you need proper paragraphs, not just abstract, isolated thoughts separated by line breaks for whatever reason. I would also remove the Highlight/Recommended tracks as that is 1. redundant, and 2. if you write a good review the highlights should be more obvious and don't need to be mentioned at the end.
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Leave a steaming, stinking Rotting Repulsive Rotting Corpse = LIVE YOUNG - DIE FREE and move on to the NEXT form of yourself....or just be a fat Wal-Mart Mcdonalds pc of shit what do I give a fuck what you do.

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MosquitoControl
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Wed May 10, 2006 8:52 pm
Posts: 2
PostPosted: Tue Oct 14, 2014 10:26 pm 
 

Thought this'd be the proper place to address my review rejection for T.N.T.'s Deflorator, copied below:

Raise your hands, all you heshers, headbangers and fist-pumpers that don't see that abbreviation and immediately think of AC/DC: "Oi, oi, oi!" Sounds about right. It's hard to remember all these years and unfortunate genre splits and forks later that the above-mentioned Aussie hard rockers had a noticeable, and sometimes considerable, influence on more than a few "Riff Raff" rock'n'roll upstarts; Udo sure as hell don't sound like Robbie Halford, circa any year.

So: T.N.T. Guitarmen Diethelm Baumann and Jorge Hargesheimer are riding a serious Malcolm Young tip: the title track is a slow burning slice of rock and roll damnation, half harmless come-on, half perverted pick-up-and all gravel-throated chorus-that rides a briliant grinding riff that demands volume; "Golden Gate" has a similar feel with a similar anthemic chorus, with a bit more pop. "Back Home," "Born to Loose," and "Friday is Payday," bounce along on the some sped-up dirty blues, though these riffs are slightly faster and far more biting, that would feel right at home on <i>High Voltage</i> or <i>Let There Be Rock</i>; or for that matter on Accept's first couple of LPs or any Krokus LP from the earlier 80s. Where the band drags is in its strange choice to include ballads on both album sides. Yep, two ballads: that's two too many by my humble count, especially given the startling lack of "power," in either of them-"Ride On," they are not.

Released in '84, Deflorator is missing the sheen already creeping into so much of that era's traditional hard rocking metal. AC/DC, Priest, Purple, Scorps, random NWOBHM bands (we're talking second, third, fourth albums here; I mean, c'mon, even Motorhead had cleaned up their sound by '83) had discovered the formula for radio success-clarity was the name of that game-and it didn't include much grime or grit; that was best left to the the nascent thrashers and speed metallists and Venom clones reveling in their own filth and sordidness. If it was possible, this was already a throwback to the production of a full half-decade earlier and makes the album that much better; the bass fully rumbles, the drums kick and snap and those guitars, well, they are far from razor-sharp but they still cut to the aural bone.

A few slightly notable oddities: Accept's Hermann Frank, fresh off <i>Balls to the Wall</i>, is credited as a "Special Guest" guitar player, but no mention is made of which songs he played on or in what capacity. The album was mixed by the same man, Manfred Lohse, responsible for Tyrant's <i>Mean Machine</i>, Stormwitch's <i>Tales of Terror</i> and Bloody Six's <i>In the Name of Blood</i>, three also far-better-than-average, 80s, Euro-metal-before-it-meant-Helloween/Grave Digger/Running Wild-style-histrionics stompers. The album contains a credit for "Hairstyling," but not one for the vaguely disturbing, and not entirely sensical, cover art.

That leaves us about where we started, somewhere in West Germany in 1984, wearing spandex and leather, head banging to an ostensible heavy metal band that came, saw, and conquered little but their own tiny corner of the rock'n'roll universe. Even in the internet age T.N.T. remains in obscurity; and that's unfortunate because <i>Deflorator</i> is an album that has aged far better than many of its contemporaries and is miles better than most of the supposed traditional heavy metal currently being released.


Firstly, I find it hard to believe that the reviewer of my review doesn't understand that in the second paragraph "So: T.N.T." is the topic sentence and the double space after and the capitalization of "Guitarmen," is done on purpose; in this case "So: T.N.T." is a framing device used to introduce the subject of the paragraph to follow; and while it's most certainly a trope, it's far less offensive to the reader than most of the pedantic, and wholly unnecessary, prolixity that contaminates many of the accepted reviews.

Secondly, to call the second paragraph "very track-by-track," is nigh tendentious libel. The album consists, broadly, of three types of songs; my textual exegesis explains as much. I could certainly rewrite the paragraph but to do so would defeat the purpose of the review: the purpose being a concise explanation of the sound and feeling of the record.

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Diamhea
Eats and Spits Corpses

Joined: Wed Feb 14, 2007 7:46 pm
Posts: 9275
Location: At the Heat of Winter
PostPosted: Tue Oct 14, 2014 10:30 pm 
 

Fair points. Okay, resubmit.
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nuclearskull wrote:
Leave a steaming, stinking Rotting Repulsive Rotting Corpse = LIVE YOUNG - DIE FREE and move on to the NEXT form of yourself....or just be a fat Wal-Mart Mcdonalds pc of shit what do I give a fuck what you do.

Last.fm

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