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Slater922
Metalhead

Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2020 6:24 pm
Posts: 2338
PostPosted: Sat May 07, 2022 12:04 pm 
 

gasmask_colostomy wrote:
One other question: are you reviewing Scream Bloody Gore or Leprosy? I'm pretty sure that review is for Leprosy.

I'm pretty sure it is a review for Leprosy, but either he misspelled the album on his post or he actually submitted his review on the wrong album.

But as for you, Judas_Devilish, your reviews are okay, but like what gasmask said, since those albums have been reviewed a bunch of times, there is more of a higher standard when it comes to new reviews on them than some obscure raw black metal demo that nobody knows about. That's why I recommend beginners start off reviewing albums with less reviews instead, as that way, you can improve your writing enough to take on the more well-known albums.

As for your English, it is decent besides some mistakes that others have pointed out, but if you still need some help in your English, you're more than welcome to ask us to proofread them to improve them even more.

That said, I am looking forward to seeing your reviews once they do get accepted, as they do have some potential :thumbsup:
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Judas_Devilish
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2022 6:44 am
Posts: 2
Location: Italy
PostPosted: Sun May 08, 2022 2:56 pm 
 

Spoiler: show
gasmask_colostomy wrote:
Judas_Devilish wrote:
Hi, I got four of my reviews rejected, and I wanted to know if you think they're good, and what can I improve to make them better!! English is not my mother language, so I'd also like to know if translations were actually correct, and well written in english.. thank you so much, I will post 'em in spoilers!! ..

I've listened to metal for almost fifteen years, I'm a musician so don't really care about writing reviews, but it would be nice to see some of them getting published, cause imho I think I gained a lot of knowledge in my trip as a metal listener, and would like to share it with others!! .. \m/ ..

The biggest problem you will have with these reviews is that all of them are for classic albums with many reviews already written. So they are more likely to be rejected because these brief reviews don't add anything to the information on the site. If you wrote a similar review for an album without any reviews, I think they might be accepted.

You can still make some improvements in a few areas. Although the English is mostly pretty good, I notice you are using "will" (future tense) for events that happened after the album's release but they are obviously past events now. You need to use "would" to show that particular time. Also, you talk about history a lot, but most readers know the history of these albums or can easily check it online. Your review should focus a bit more on the actual music, perhaps choosing a few songs to analyze in detail for each album. Remember, you are not only trying to give a summary of the album and its context, but also trying to evaluate the quality of the music so that readers can judge it without listening. In terms of style, try not to compartmentalize aspects of the album e.g. talking for one sentence about lyrics, one sentence about guitars, etc. Giving a detailed picture is good, just try to express that in a holistic sense.

One other question: are you reviewing Scream Bloody Gore or Leprosy? I'm pretty sure that review is for Leprosy.


Hi gasmask_colostomy, thanks for your reply, yes it was Leprosy, I've now edited the message, but it disappeared, is that normal?? .. Anyway I guess I'm going to review more underground albums, so if your advice is correct, reviews are going to be published!! (: ..

Spoiler: show
TheBurningOfSodom wrote:
I'd also suggest to insert some kind of conclusive statement at the end, a short paragraph or even a sentence can be fine, whereas some of your writings (especially the Death one) end way too abruptly. But the main issue, by a long shot, is that, as gasmask said, it's hard to write about this kind of albums without getting redundant.

P.s. hello, fellow countryman! :-D


Hey TheBurningOfSodom, I'm actually a girl, but nice to meet you too!! lol..

Spoiler: show
Slater922 wrote:
gasmask_colostomy wrote:
One other question: are you reviewing Scream Bloody Gore or Leprosy? I'm pretty sure that review is for Leprosy.

I'm pretty sure it is a review for Leprosy, but either he misspelled the album on his post or he actually submitted his review on the wrong album.

But as for you, Judas_Devilish, your reviews are okay, but like what gasmask said, since those albums have been reviewed a bunch of times, there is more of a higher standard when it comes to new reviews on them than some obscure raw black metal demo that nobody knows about. That's why I recommend beginners start off reviewing albums with less reviews instead, as that way, you can improve your writing enough to take on the more well-known albums.

As for your English, it is decent besides some mistakes that others have pointed out, but if you still need some help in your English, you're more than welcome to ask us to proofread them to improve them even more.

That said, I am looking forward to seeing your reviews once they do get accepted, as they do have some potential :thumbsup:


Thank you too, Slater922, I'm gonna put into practice all of your advices.. I'm also quite active on Discord, in the MA community, so a bunch of friends online is helping me with language, and to get into MA..

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TheBurningOfSodom
Metalhead

Joined: Sat Jun 27, 2015 9:28 am
Posts: 595
Location: Italy
PostPosted: Mon May 09, 2022 8:28 am 
 

Judas_Devilish wrote:
Hey TheBurningOfSodom, I'm actually a girl, but nice to meet you too!! lol..

Whoops, sorry then! Welcome aboard nonetheless! :beer:
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gasmask_colostomy
Metalhead

Joined: Thu May 27, 2010 5:38 am
Posts: 1639
Location: China
PostPosted: Mon May 09, 2022 9:56 am 
 

Judas_Devilish wrote:
Hi gasmask_colostomy, thanks for your reply, yes it was Leprosy, I've now edited the message, but it disappeared, is that normal?? .. Anyway I guess I'm going to review more underground albums, so if your advice is correct, reviews are going to be published!! (: ..

You mean the message on this page disappeared? (Not normal, but maybe you accidentally changed the format or got rid of some text.) Or the review itself vanished from the site? (Also not normal, even drafts and rejected reviews should be kept in "My reviews", which is in the top left when you log in on the main site.)

I hope your reviews can be published with some of the suggested changes, don't forget to also read some other users' reviews to get a feel for what is good quality and style. Users like hells_unicorn, bayern, and Twisted_Psychology all have loads of reviews and are very consistent, even though their styles are a bit different.
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Filomerc
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2022 6:24 pm
Posts: 1
Location: Belgium
PostPosted: Tue May 10, 2022 7:10 am 
 

So, wrote my first review, and edited it already a few times, but has been rejected multiple times.
It's a band from my country, but not much about them is known. It is their first CD, and I asked for some information on their band page, but got no answer yet. I don't know what else I could add to pad the review a bit more.

Could you guys help me out?

----
Hell's Edge - Bound By Curses

77%

I got a CD delivered to me by purchasing a jacket by one of the band members. As a supporter of local bands, I searched for some info regarding the band and decided to give it a listen. They describe themselves as a progressive/heavy metal band founded in Antwerp, Belgium, in 2008.

The current line-up features Michiel Vlaminck on the drums, Dylan Meersman as the bassist, Yves Bogaerts on the keyboards, Dennis Michiels as the guitarist, and Kevin Van Asch as the vocalist and guitarist. As a group of young guys tend to be, their music reflects their aura: fast-paced and full of energy.
Their debut album was released in 2017, and the band has been experimenting with making their unique sound before bringing out their first album. I was surprised for a second, as progressive/heavy metal does not let me think of growling, but they fit in nicely with the album’s aggressive speed.

The clean vocals are decent, but nothing really to speak of. The inclusion of female vocals in “Under The Stars” to accommodate the lyric’s “two voices” is an excellent addition to the song. The band sometimes tries to give the songs an atmospheric tinge with ambient sounds and classical instruments. While not immediately bad, it distracts from the album's general vibe, which is more composed of blazing guitar riffs and breakdowns, which they richly sprinkle through all their songs.

I dig the cover they used for the album. The production of the album is done with care and no instruments or vocals overpower the others. Their unique sound needs some work around the rough edges, but as this is their first album, this was a pleasant surprise.

As a last note, I would like to add that they would do good to lengthen their songs, with a runtime of 42 minutes and 12 tracks; I expected more.

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gasmask_colostomy
Metalhead

Joined: Thu May 27, 2010 5:38 am
Posts: 1639
Location: China
PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2022 9:13 am 
 

Filomerc wrote:
So, wrote my first review, and edited it already a few times, but has been rejected multiple times.
It's a band from my country, but not much about them is known. It is their first CD, and I asked for some information on their band page, but got no answer yet. I don't know what else I could add to pad the review a bit more.

Could you guys help me out?
Spoiler: show
----
Hell's Edge - Bound By Curses

77%

I got a CD delivered to me by purchasing a jacket by one of the band members. As a supporter of local bands, I searched for some info regarding the band and decided to give it a listen. They describe themselves as a progressive/heavy metal band founded in Antwerp, Belgium, in 2008.

The current line-up features Michiel Vlaminck on the drums, Dylan Meersman as the bassist, Yves Bogaerts on the keyboards, Dennis Michiels as the guitarist, and Kevin Van Asch as the vocalist and guitarist. As a group of young guys tend to be, their music reflects their aura: fast-paced and full of energy.
Their debut album was released in 2017, and the band has been experimenting with making their unique sound before bringing out their first album. I was surprised for a second, as progressive/heavy metal does not let me think of growling, but they fit in nicely with the album’s aggressive speed.

The clean vocals are decent, but nothing really to speak of. The inclusion of female vocals in “Under The Stars” to accommodate the lyric’s “two voices” is an excellent addition to the song. The band sometimes tries to give the songs an atmospheric tinge with ambient sounds and classical instruments. While not immediately bad, it distracts from the album's general vibe, which is more composed of blazing guitar riffs and breakdowns, which they richly sprinkle through all their songs.

I dig the cover they used for the album. The production of the album is done with care and no instruments or vocals overpower the others. Their unique sound needs some work around the rough edges, but as this is their first album, this was a pleasant surprise.

As a last note, I would like to add that they would do good to lengthen their songs, with a runtime of 42 minutes and 12 tracks; I expected more.

Pretty sure the reason it's getting rejected is because there's fairly little musical description and analysis compared to other reviews on the site. If you haven't read some other reviews for comparison, I suggest you do that first, before looking at your own again.

There's nothing wrong with giving some background for an album, especially when the band is not well-known, but you have unnecessary information in the review. The first 2 paragraphs are pretty useless, because this information can already be found on this website, so no need to mention those things. Where you should expand is on the musical description and assessment of quality. A few comparisons to other bands would be useful, so would mention of specific songs, such as details of the band's typical template (one or two examples are fine), then instances where some songs were different. Currently, your description seems like a checklist (vocals: check; guitars: check; cover: check; production; check), which is not all that useful for a reader. That's the bones of your review, but we want meat, and that includes more detailed opinions! Good luck!
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Luvers
Writes generic (and possibly meandering) posts

Joined: Wed Mar 08, 2006 10:34 pm
Posts: 542
Location: United States
PostPosted: Wed May 18, 2022 1:14 pm 
 

Quick question here.

If the subject of musical arrangements is part of a review, would mentioning accompanying sheet music be a worthy point to make? Or would it come off as snobbish, even if that is 110% not the intention?
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gasmask_colostomy
Metalhead

Joined: Thu May 27, 2010 5:38 am
Posts: 1639
Location: China
PostPosted: Thu May 19, 2022 2:41 am 
 

It's an odd question, but I guess you could if it's relevant. I personally can't think how the sheet music would make any difference to the album experience.
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the dismal stench of The Chicken Bone Gallows on the Plains of Mediocre Desolation was unleashed upon the unsuspecting world by the unholy rusty lawnmower molester horde that is Satan's Prenuptial Charcuterie from the endless field of tombs that is Butthill, Alabama

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LongHairIsSoFuckingCool
Edgy Metal Noob Catchphrase Dispenser

Joined: Tue Jul 20, 2021 3:22 am
Posts: 547
PostPosted: Thu May 19, 2022 2:44 am 
 

If I make a review of an album by a band I find to be underrated, is it passive-aggressive and bad to title the review something like, "How come nobody talks about this band?" or anything similar?
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Last edited by LongHairIsSoFuckingCool on Mon Jun 27, 2022 4:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
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gasmask_colostomy
Metalhead

Joined: Thu May 27, 2010 5:38 am
Posts: 1639
Location: China
PostPosted: Thu May 19, 2022 4:08 am 
 

Kind of a little bit. Use the word "underrated" if that summarizes your review, but that can't be your main point. You'd do better to pick out why you think the band is good than why you don't understand people are ignoring them.
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the dismal stench of The Chicken Bone Gallows on the Plains of Mediocre Desolation was unleashed upon the unsuspecting world by the unholy rusty lawnmower molester horde that is Satan's Prenuptial Charcuterie from the endless field of tombs that is Butthill, Alabama

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Jahha_pure
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2021 4:28 pm
Posts: 2
PostPosted: Fri May 20, 2022 3:10 am 
 

It's my the second review, but the first one and this one were rejected

Firstly, I can say, I do love Nokturnal Mortum (I associate this band with NM, cause the members of this project are (or were) members of it). Strong poetry, symphonic melodies, powerful riffs, slavonic paganism- yeah, that's all about NM...

Two members of that legendary band made this shit (Knjaz Varggoth- the founder, lyrist of NM and Saturious- man with academic musical education. By the way, he was the main composer of NM).

So, some words about this album...

It sounds like a crap, really. The scream isn't professional, the riffs are so primitive, the solos are awful. Monotonous and boring thing. Drums sounds better than guitars or something else but very often drums dominate in sound, not guitars.

Maybe lyrics will be better, because it's NSBM/hatecore, and this style is famous for its radical lyrics.
No, the lyrics are as bad as the music. The lyrics are like that: "Fucking jews kill black metal" or "All mainstream extrime metal bands aren't TRVE".
Of course, in NSBM the lyrics are full of antisemitism, antichristianity, but the other bands make their lyrics more melodic, when you read them it can be read like a poetry, not chant.

My verdict: If it was made by teenagers and if it was their first band, why not. But the makers of "War" made before that such masterpieces as "Lunar Poetry", "NeChist", "Goat Horns" and others. I'm shocked.

I hope, this album a sarcasm... Thanks to Varggoth and Saturious, that you had made only one album of "Aryan Terrorism".


Rating:10%

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Auselesspileofflesh
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Feb 13, 2008 11:41 pm
Posts: 660
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Wed May 25, 2022 2:33 am 
 

Hey all, just looking to get some feedback/criticism on my reviews. I used to write multiple genre reviews for a zine I ran back in 08 - 10 but I've been slowly writing some here for the archives and even have started making effort to do YouTube reviews etc

Sitting on a heap of half finished and first paragraph reviews. It can take me a while or I just get the shits and spit it out ha

https://www.metal-archives.com/users/Au ... ileofflesh

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gasmask_colostomy
Metalhead

Joined: Thu May 27, 2010 5:38 am
Posts: 1639
Location: China
PostPosted: Sat Jun 04, 2022 10:10 am 
 

Jahha_pure wrote:
It's my the second review, but the first one and this one were rejected

Spoiler: show
Firstly, I can say, I do love Nokturnal Mortum (I associate this band with NM, cause the members of this project are (or were) members of it). Strong poetry, symphonic melodies, powerful riffs, slavonic paganism- yeah, that's all about NM...

Two members of that legendary band made this shit (Knjaz Varggoth- the founder, lyrist of NM and Saturious- man with academic musical education. By the way, he was the main composer of NM).

So, some words about this album...

It sounds like a crap, really. The scream isn't professional, the riffs are so primitive, the solos are awful. Monotonous and boring thing. Drums sounds better than guitars or something else but very often drums dominate in sound, not guitars.

Maybe lyrics will be better, because it's NSBM/hatecore, and this style is famous for its radical lyrics.
No, the lyrics are as bad as the music. The lyrics are like that: "Fucking jews kill black metal" or "All mainstream extrime metal bands aren't TRVE".
Of course, in NSBM the lyrics are full of antisemitism, antichristianity, but the other bands make their lyrics more melodic, when you read them it can be read like a poetry, not chant.

My verdict: If it was made by teenagers and if it was their first band, why not. But the makers of "War" made before that such masterpieces as "Lunar Poetry", "NeChist", "Goat Horns" and others. I'm shocked.

I hope, this album a sarcasm... Thanks to Varggoth and Saturious, that you had made only one album of "Aryan Terrorism".


Rating:10%

I think the review was rejected for a few reasons.

Firstly, you haven't written much about the music, just one paragraph. Most of the review talks about Nokturnal Mortum and NSBM lyrics.

Secondly, it's not specific at all, and some parts are confusing. What band are you writing about? I don't even know that. If the production is very bad, describe that more. If the songs are all the same, say what they sound like.

Thirdly, I think you need to practice writing in English more before writing reviews. Lots of the expressions are incorrect or unclear. For example, "drums sound better than guitars or something else": I can't understand this. What "else"? Do you mean compared to everything else?

Try reading plenty of other reviews on this website before you submit this one again.
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the dismal stench of The Chicken Bone Gallows on the Plains of Mediocre Desolation was unleashed upon the unsuspecting world by the unholy rusty lawnmower molester horde that is Satan's Prenuptial Charcuterie from the endless field of tombs that is Butthill, Alabama

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gasmask_colostomy
Metalhead

Joined: Thu May 27, 2010 5:38 am
Posts: 1639
Location: China
PostPosted: Sat Jun 04, 2022 10:29 am 
 

Auselesspileofflesh wrote:
Hey all, just looking to get some feedback/criticism on my reviews. I used to write multiple genre reviews for a zine I ran back in 08 - 10 but I've been slowly writing some here for the archives and even have started making effort to do YouTube reviews etc

Sitting on a heap of half finished and first paragraph reviews. It can take me a while or I just get the shits and spit it out ha

I would not be surprised if your YouTube reviews are great, because you write exactly like you talk I guess. I dunno if that's specific to Aussies, but I've seen a few do it before on this site too. That makes the tone of the reviews pretty informal, although I feel it kind of works when you're getting enthusiastic about certain songs, and it also makes the writing less formulaic too.

I read a handful of what you've written, and aside from the chatty tone, a couple of things to watch might be going too close to track-by-track method and not checking errors before submitting. Each of the reviews I read had a larger paragraph where you pick out several songs (sometimes in order) and list their features or qualities, but you don't really have any detailed description of overall sound for these albums. Since you seem really familiar with the genres in question, it shouldn't be a problem to come up with ways of describing that before going into detail on songs, which I think you did pretty well on the Gutted Mind one. Checking errors should be a simple matter of reading over what you've written before submitting, because most of it is missing words or little slips in expression.

The only other thing I can think of suggesting is that you might want to go a bit deeper regarding some particular moments of each album. I notice you're sometimes telling your reader where the best riff of the album is, and that might be useful, but it's an unsubstantiated opinion unless you spend time breaking down what make that riff great. I don't read reviews here as recommendations, because everyone has different tastes, so that means that telling me the album is great doesn't mean much to me - I'll make my own judgement on that.

Hope some of those comments will be helpful.
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Napero wrote:
the dismal stench of The Chicken Bone Gallows on the Plains of Mediocre Desolation was unleashed upon the unsuspecting world by the unholy rusty lawnmower molester horde that is Satan's Prenuptial Charcuterie from the endless field of tombs that is Butthill, Alabama

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Drinkenstein
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 8:40 pm
Posts: 19
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sat Jun 04, 2022 11:21 am 
 

I rarely write reviews because as a non musician I feel like my vocabulary to describe various musical elements is fairly limited. I also don't get along with brevity. I constantly feel like I am struggling to find a balance between being descriptive and being concise--like I lack the talent to do both. Maybe this will come with time, but I would still appreciate some feedback on this recent review of mine. I end up unhappy with most of my reviews, but I think this one is passable. I could just use some pointers on how to take it to the next level. Thanks!

https://www.metal-archives.com/reviews/ ... ein/251047

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gasmask_colostomy
Metalhead

Joined: Thu May 27, 2010 5:38 am
Posts: 1639
Location: China
PostPosted: Sun Jun 05, 2022 1:07 am 
 

Drinkenstein wrote:
I rarely write reviews because as a non musician I feel like my vocabulary to describe various musical elements is fairly limited. I also don't get along with brevity. I constantly feel like I am struggling to find a balance between being descriptive and being concise--like I lack the talent to do both. Maybe this will come with time, but I would still appreciate some feedback on this recent review of mine. I end up unhappy with most of my reviews, but I think this one is passable. I could just use some pointers on how to take it to the next level. Thanks!

https://www.metal-archives.com/reviews/ ... ein/251047

I had a look at the Gris review and the one you wrote for Hail too. Your self-critique seems relatively accurate, but the writing itself is mostly sparklingly clear. What the reviews currently lack, for me, is any kind of penetration into the specific style and sound of the album and its songs. You don't need to be a musical expert for that, and I guess most readers don't want to hear a load of musical jargon or read a musical score, so instead you need to use other methods. I'm not a music expert either and tend to use either deep description or metaphor where that fails.

For instance, your descriptions about Hail summarize the genre mix pretty well but perhaps lack any signposting for how that feels to the listener. I mean "folk + dark ambient + extreme metal" still leaves a wide remit for what the eventual sound is. Same with Gris: you leave it stated that the album is DSBM, but then your main complaint is that much of the material deviates from a DSBMetal palette. You don't have to go into tons of detail about the elements of the album, but a few well-chosen examples with thorough description would help. In these instances, don't worry about being verbose, your writing reads well and isn't a burden to go along with. I think your Hail review deals with this issue slightly better, simply because you spend longer with each example and seem to know the band better. When talking about Gris, you're describing the whole song as indie rock, but don't say what makes it an indie song. I feel like you never really get to the bottom of the genre conundrum there, while comparing the first and second song in detail then adding the later summary would have done a good job of it.

I guess the main takeaway from what I've written is that you don't need to worry about being concise, certainly not at the cost of detail. I believe good reviews are not a gloss on an album, they are a dive down into it. Obviously you can't talk about everything, but you choose your examples in a way that allows you to discuss most of the key points with direct focus. Your reviewing is not bad and your writing is very solid, hopefully you'll write more and grow in confidence.
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Napero wrote:
the dismal stench of The Chicken Bone Gallows on the Plains of Mediocre Desolation was unleashed upon the unsuspecting world by the unholy rusty lawnmower molester horde that is Satan's Prenuptial Charcuterie from the endless field of tombs that is Butthill, Alabama

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UdetBM
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2020 7:52 am
Posts: 3
PostPosted: Sun Jun 05, 2022 12:07 pm 
 

Wrote a couple of reviews, some were accepted, some were not. Since I want to write more, because i have quite a collection of black metal cds and mcs, I'd like to know what's wrong with this review (since reason of the rejection was "not following the guidelines" and its pretty enigmatic. Can you be kind enough to tell me? Any constructive critique is welcome.

I can't say much about the French, radical black metal scene, since I heard just a few bands, like Kristalnacht or Peste Noire. But Elitism made me feel that I need to correct this mistake and dig deeper. Because this EP is something really good.

This is not the extreme black metal, when it comes to the music. Elitism prefers more majetic, slow tunes. Just the opening track „Blanc Holocauste” is like an anthem and march, with lyrics being shouted with anger and hate. There is strong keyboard wall, mixed with guitars and drums (which are, in my opinion, not very impressive). All in all, this song makes you feel like being a part of some gathering or ceremony, something evil and enchanting. „Abattre cette decheance” is more black metal style, with but still, very interesting, with clean vocals mixing with black metal ones. It sounds like some kind of manifesto of pure hate. „En response a l'infamie” starts with a traditional song, sung normally, then suddenly it is cut with a series of machine guns, just to be turned into a majestic, slow paced anthem of hate. Yes, hate is definitely the best word to summarize this material and you can find it in every second of Elitism's music. „The Gate of Nanna” is a cover of Beherit, surprisingly well fitting to the rest of the material, but, all in all, it's hard to cover such an amazing tune. „En Guerre du Sang” starts with keyboard epic, but turns into another slow, powerful, hate-filled tune,

„L'odeur des Deportes” is a solid piece of majestic, epic black metal, where everything that's extreme is hidden in the lyrics. Sadly, lyrics are not included in the CD (which is bad, black metal is all about an ideology, so I like to read lyrics and I hate bands claiming that they play black metal, but they care not about their lyrics and ideology), but they can be found on the web. Elitism is NSBM by all means, and it stays loyal to this most extreme part of the black metal scene, carrying the torch of pure hate and intolerance, a sign of rebelion against modern, politically correct world. If you think that NSBM means some extreme black metal or RAC music mostly, Elitism might surprise you. Their music is slow, melodic and powerful, with a variety of vocals and themes.

This EP was my first contact with this band, but I hope it's not the last time. Even if this has a very „demo” sound (because it was a demo, re-released as an EP later), it is still a good and strong piece of quite original and well played music (save of drums...). Something that stays deeper into your memory – and it's not something that I can say about many black metal arts.

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Drinkenstein
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 8:40 pm
Posts: 19
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sun Jun 05, 2022 3:06 pm 
 

gasmask_colostomy wrote:
Drinkenstein wrote:
I rarely write reviews because as a non musician I feel like my vocabulary to describe various musical elements is fairly limited. I also don't get along with brevity. I constantly feel like I am struggling to find a balance between being descriptive and being concise--like I lack the talent to do both. Maybe this will come with time, but I would still appreciate some feedback on this recent review of mine. I end up unhappy with most of my reviews, but I think this one is passable. I could just use some pointers on how to take it to the next level. Thanks!

https://www.metal-archives.com/reviews/ ... ein/251047

I had a look at the Gris review and the one you wrote for Hail too. Your self-critique seems relatively accurate, but the writing itself is mostly sparklingly clear. What the reviews currently lack, for me, is any kind of penetration into the specific style and sound of the album and its songs. You don't need to be a musical expert for that, and I guess most readers don't want to hear a load of musical jargon or read a musical score, so instead you need to use other methods. I'm not a music expert either and tend to use either deep description or metaphor where that fails.

For instance, your descriptions about Hail summarize the genre mix pretty well but perhaps lack any signposting for how that feels to the listener. I mean "folk + dark ambient + extreme metal" still leaves a wide remit for what the eventual sound is. Same with Gris: you leave it stated that the album is DSBM, but then your main complaint is that much of the material deviates from a DSBMetal palette. You don't have to go into tons of detail about the elements of the album, but a few well-chosen examples with thorough description would help. In these instances, don't worry about being verbose, your writing reads well and isn't a burden to go along with. I think your Hail review deals with this issue slightly better, simply because you spend longer with each example and seem to know the band better. When talking about Gris, you're describing the whole song as indie rock, but don't say what makes it an indie song. I feel like you never really get to the bottom of the genre conundrum there, while comparing the first and second song in detail then adding the later summary would have done a good job of it.

I guess the main takeaway from what I've written is that you don't need to worry about being concise, certainly not at the cost of detail. I believe good reviews are not a gloss on an album, they are a dive down into it. Obviously you can't talk about everything, but you choose your examples in a way that allows you to discuss most of the key points with direct focus. Your reviewing is not bad and your writing is very solid, hopefully you'll write more and grow in confidence.


Thank you! Yeah I admittedly struggle to come up with clever ways to describe the actual sounds present in a composition, and I end up falling back on the same set of generic adjectives (e.g. "doomy"). I've read a fair number of reviews on the site by better reviewers (yours and autothrall's to name two) specifically with the intent of analyzing the language, but that can also be discouraging because I see the way that some of those reviews are put together and they're just so damn creative with how they describe things, and I'm like "Damn, I wish I had that level of mastery over the English language!" Maybe I need to just take up reading again or something. Or just keep writing. I used to always commit to trying to write reviews during those review challenges, but I would either miss them, or I would get writers block trying to even get a single review out, so I'm trying to get a bit more practice now by reviewing non-virgin albums between challenges in hopes that I can actually be a bit more prepared for the next one.

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Auselesspileofflesh
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Joined: Wed Feb 13, 2008 11:41 pm
Posts: 660
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2022 1:10 am 
 

gasmask_colostomy wrote:
Auselesspileofflesh wrote:
Hey all, just looking to get some feedback/criticism on my reviews. I used to write multiple genre reviews for a zine I ran back in 08 - 10 but I've been slowly writing some here for the archives and even have started making effort to do YouTube reviews etc

Sitting on a heap of half finished and first paragraph reviews. It can take me a while or I just get the shits and spit it out ha

I would not be surprised if your YouTube reviews are great, because you write exactly like you talk I guess. I dunno if that's specific to Aussies, but I've seen a few do it before on this site too. That makes the tone of the reviews pretty informal, although I feel it kind of works when you're getting enthusiastic about certain songs, and it also makes the writing less formulaic too.

I read a handful of what you've written, and aside from the chatty tone, a couple of things to watch might be going too close to track-by-track method and not checking errors before submitting. Each of the reviews I read had a larger paragraph where you pick out several songs (sometimes in order) and list their features or qualities, but you don't really have any detailed description of overall sound for these albums. Since you seem really familiar with the genres in question, it shouldn't be a problem to come up with ways of describing that before going into detail on songs, which I think you did pretty well on the Gutted Mind one. Checking errors should be a simple matter of reading over what you've written before submitting, because most of it is missing words or little slips in expression.

The only other thing I can think of suggesting is that you might want to go a bit deeper regarding some particular moments of each album. I notice you're sometimes telling your reader where the best riff of the album is, and that might be useful, but it's an unsubstantiated opinion unless you spend time breaking down what make that riff great. I don't read reviews here as recommendations, because everyone has different tastes, so that means that telling me the album is great doesn't mean much to me - I'll make my own judgement on that.

Hope some of those comments will be helpful.




Thanks heaps Gasmask, really appreciate the feedback.
Yeah I do need to double my spelling/wording, I think sometimes I think it in my head and assume that I've written it down and so even when I re-read it, I sorta fill that gab mentally as I'm reading it without noticing the error (if that makes sense) so in short I think I might re-visit a review before I submit it.
I do also need to work on how I describe the music, trying to put more into that for future references.

Thanks again mate, will use this to help with future reviews.

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UdetBM
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2020 7:52 am
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2022 2:10 pm 
 

Working on this review. Posted it once, it was rejected without any real reason. But I get a message, decided to rewrite it, add some stuff, correct something here and there. I thought it's pretty solid, telling everything about the album, giving some background and my opinions, but it was rejected again. I'd really like to know what's wrong here, since I posted some other reviews and these were mostly accepted.

So, what's wrong with this one? Is it about grammar stuff? English is not my first language, yeah. I used spell check to correct any typos.

I'll be grateful for any answer, constructive critique, suggestions etc. Just tell me what should I change or add etc.

Quote:
I can't say much about the French black metal scene, since I have heard a few bands only, like Kristalnacht or Peste Noire. But Elitism made me feel that I need to correct this mistake and dig deeper. Because this material is quite good.

Elitism is a one man black metal project led by HGH, member of Vermine and Vouivre. Yes, when someone says „one man black metal project” (or, like some people ironically say „One man horde”), you can quickly recall tons of poor quality black metal releases, often with shitty drum machines and horrible quality, which is often covered with ideological stuff. I was kinda afraid that Elitism will be something like this, since it is a very ideological project as well. But I was wrong – partially at last.

This is not the very extremal black metal, when it comes to the music. Elitism prefers more majetsic, slow tunes. Just the opening track „Blanc Holocauste” is like an anthem or march, with lyrics being shouted with a very emotional tone, but not in the blackish style. There is a strong keyboard wall, mixed with guitars and drums (which aren't impressive – yes, the curse of poor drums in the one man projects is still alive). All in all, this song makes you feel like being a part of some gathering or ceremony, something evil and enchanting as well.

„Abattre cette decheance” is more black metal track, but still quite interesting, with clean vocals mixing with black metal ones. It sounds like some kind of a manifesto of pure hate. „En response a l'infamie” starts with a traditional song, sung normally, then suddenly it is cut with a series of machine guns, just to be turned into a majestic, slow paced anthem of darkness and evil. Yes, evil is definitely the best word to summarize this material and you can find it in every second of Elitism's music. And it shows that you don't have to play the most extreme metal to make your music sound so evil. „The Gate of Nanna” is a cover of Beherit, surprisingly well fitting to the rest of the material, but, all in all, it's hard to cover such an amazing tune. It's not very far from the original, after all. I kinda expected Elitism to make a more experimental version of this classic. „En Guerre du Sang” starts with a majestic keyboard intro, but turns into another slow, powerful, evil-filled song.

„L'odeur des Deportes” is a solid piece of majestic, epic black metal. There is a nice variety of themes and vocals, so this is not boring material at all. Sadly, lyrics are not included in the CD. Elitism stays loyal to this most extreme part of the black metal scene, carrying the torch of pure hate and intolerance, a sign of rebellion against the modern, politically correct world. If you think that this genre means some extreme black metal or RAC music mostly, Elitism might surprise you. Their music is slow, melodic and powerful.

This EP was my first contact with this band, but I hope it's not the last time. Even if this has a very „demo” sound (because it is actually a demo, re-released as an EP later), it is still a good and strong piece of quite original and well played music (save of drums...). „L'odeur des Deportes” stays longer in your memory – and it's not something that I can say about many one man black metal projects.

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IxI_KILLING
Metal newbie

Joined: Tue Apr 20, 2010 3:10 pm
Posts: 276
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:29 am 
 

Not 100% sure if this is the place to post this so disregard or point me in the right direction if it’s not, please.

Very long story short: I used to write reviews on and off back in the early 2010’s. After meeting my wife, having a few children and work just being insane, they took a backseat. I’ve been really putting some thought into jumping back on board to see if I’ve lost my touch or if I can still do it. My writing style and approach might be different than some/most but I’m not unique at all. I guess what I’m asking is, could some of you check out my work from a decade ago and see what y’all think?

It would be much appreciated and I’d love to positive or negative feedback.
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TheBurningOfSodom
Metalhead

Joined: Sat Jun 27, 2015 9:28 am
Posts: 595
Location: Italy
PostPosted: Tue Jul 05, 2022 2:15 pm 
 

UdetBM wrote:
Working on this review. Posted it once, it was rejected without any real reason. But I get a message, decided to rewrite it, add some stuff, correct something here and there. I thought it's pretty solid, telling everything about the album, giving some background and my opinions, but it was rejected again. I'd really like to know what's wrong here, since I posted some other reviews and these were mostly accepted.

So, what's wrong with this one? Is it about grammar stuff? English is not my first language, yeah. I used spell check to correct any typos.

I'll be grateful for any answer, constructive critique, suggestions etc. Just tell me what should I change or add etc.

I don't think the grammar is problematic enough to warrant a rejection, even if it still needs some proof-reading or better word choices. It's a bit short and also a track-by-track, but for a 5-song demo I'd say both are venial sins, after all. The strange fact is the absence of a reason for rejection - could it be that the release in question is a NSBM one and you didn't mention that? I don't know fully about the site's policy on this case, but I'm pretty sure hiding a band's overt NS views might be a bit controversial, regardless of whether you did it deliberately or not. Of course it's just the only explanation I've come up with so it's not necessarily what happened. Waiting for someone else to enlighten me here :lol:

IxI_KILLING wrote:
Not 100% sure if this is the place to post this so disregard or point me in the right direction if it’s not, please.

Very long story short: I used to write reviews on and off back in the early 2010’s. After meeting my wife, having a few children and work just being insane, they took a backseat. I’ve been really putting some thought into jumping back on board to see if I’ve lost my touch or if I can still do it. My writing style and approach might be different than some/most but I’m not unique at all. I guess what I’m asking is, could some of you check out my work from a decade ago and see what y’all think?

It would be much appreciated and I’d love to positive or negative feedback.

I checked some of your writings and I think your style is pretty much alright even from today's standards for acceptance. I even remember reading your Hades Archer review some years ago and the occasional humour is always a win in my book. I see you have also some more recent reviews so you're still doing fine, I guess. Don't know what else do you want to know honestly :-P
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gasmask_colostomy
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Joined: Thu May 27, 2010 5:38 am
Posts: 1639
Location: China
PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2022 4:58 am 
 

TheBurningOfSodom wrote:
UdetBM wrote:
review

I don't think the grammar is problematic enough to warrant a rejection, even if it still needs some proof-reading or better word choices. It's a bit short and also a track-by-track, but for a 5-song demo I'd say both are venial sins, after all. The strange fact is the absence of a reason for rejection - could it be that the release in question is a NSBM one and you didn't mention that? I don't know fully about the site's policy on this case, but I'm pretty sure hiding a band's overt NS views might be a bit controversial, regardless of whether you did it deliberately or not. Of course it's just the only explanation I've come up with so it's not necessarily what happened. Waiting for someone else to enlighten me here :lol:

Pretty sure track-by-track is the problem. Needs a paragraph to explain the sound generally and then give examples to illustrate or show different elements. Style is mostly okay, NS stuff is adequately referenced, and I hope MA wouldn't reject it for being positive on the release, because that would suck.
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Lord_Of_Diamonds
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 06, 2022 7:29 pm 
 

TheBurningOfSodom wrote:
could it be that the release in question is a NSBM one

Why... yes... it is, as it turns out. The writer might wanna mention that a little more specifically beyond dismissing it as "ideological".

Aside from that, yes, it is rather track by track. Echoing Gasmask here.
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gasmask_colostomy
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 07, 2022 5:27 am 
 

For me, the second to last paragraph makes it clear that it's NSBM without having to say so. I don't think we have to put warning labels on reviews, because this is not the PMRC.
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Lord_Of_Diamonds
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 08, 2022 3:58 pm 
 

Yeah, and said paragraph also heavily implies that the record's reliance on NS themes is a good thing because "hate and intolerance" and "rebellion against the modern politically correct world". That's suspicious as hell and I absolutely see why a review would be rejected for that.
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UdetBM
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2020 7:52 am
Posts: 3
PostPosted: Sun Jul 10, 2022 1:20 am 
 

Ok, I understand. First of all, I my idea was to not write more about NSBM since I thought that this might be a reason of rejection. But now you said I should write more - all right, will do in the third version, so people will be properly warned. Lesson learned.

As for track-by-track - certainly, I learned to avoid this way of writing, but with such short releases it seems the best way, otherwise the review will be short and probably rejected as well.

As for reason of rejection, it was done by Derigin and explanation is rather general, without pointing what and why:
Quote:
"In hindsight, unfortunately your review is not acceptable in its current state. This may be because it lacks substance and content towards describing the music of the album, the grammar/spelling/formatting needs work, the language used is unnecessarily juvenile, or all or a combination of these reasons. Before resubmitting, please look over your review and improve it to meet these standards. We recognize that it is our error for not originally catching these issues, and the review should not have been accepted in the first place. If you would like to get feedback from others on how to improve your review, please post your review in this thread and ask for feedback: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=16487"


So I came here for help :) I'm open for all help and suggestions, since I'd like to review more stuff, especially some pagan metal albums from the central/eastern Europe.

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TheBurningOfSodom
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 10, 2022 4:44 am 
 

I'm pretty much with L_O_D here, the way the paragraph reads definitely gives the idea of someone deliberately aiming to sugar the pill, even if I'm also pretty sure it was done out of naivety more than everything.

I'd say, though, try not to go to the other extreme and put a giant explicit warning at the end of the review, or don't spend your time on an excessively defensive position about how you don't agree with the themes. Just a more explicit and honest mention will do well imo.

As for the other issues, you can definitely correct some typos or poor word choices, and most of all try to get more in depth in terms of musical description, which is never a bad thing - it's actually a common reason for rejections when it's too vague. If you can also speak of all the tracks without necessarily covering them in their strict order, that might be of some help as well.

Good luck for the submission!
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gasmask_colostomy
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 10, 2022 4:58 am 
 

UdetBM, a few more detailed points about how you could improve other areas of the review:
- Try not to speak about songs one by one, give an overall view first and then choose some examples to show similarities and differences.
- I suggest changing your quoting or naming style from ,, '' to " ". That's the standard way when using English to put both opening and closing quote marks at the top.
- In paragraph 3, a couple of things you can easily change are "extremal" (correct is "extreme") and the spelling of "majestic".
- For music and song description, give more evidence. For example, you mention several times that the music sounds "evil", but the review needs to say how it sounds evil. You can mention techniques, describe sounds, or talk about the effect of the music on the listener.
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LongHairIsSoFuckingCool
Edgy Metal Noob Catchphrase Dispenser

Joined: Tue Jul 20, 2021 3:22 am
Posts: 547
PostPosted: Fri Jul 15, 2022 9:43 am 
 

Is it a bad idea to try to defend the metalness of a band in a review?
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Slater922
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Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2020 6:24 pm
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 15, 2022 10:10 am 
 

LongHairIsSoFuckingCool wrote:
Is it a bad idea to try to defend the metalness of a band in a review?

Probably, especially if it's in bad-faith and on the lines of "this band isn't metal, therefore it's bad". If you're unsure about the metalness of a band, it's better to take it up in the Cleansing the Archives thread.
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LongHairIsSoFuckingCool
Edgy Metal Noob Catchphrase Dispenser

Joined: Tue Jul 20, 2021 3:22 am
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 15, 2022 10:42 am 
 

Slater922 wrote:
LongHairIsSoFuckingCool wrote:
Is it a bad idea to try to defend the metalness of a band in a review?

Probably, especially if it's in bad-faith and on the lines of "this band isn't metal, therefore it's bad". If you're unsure about the metalness of a band, it's better to take it up in the Cleansing the Archives thread.

What I mean is more along the lines of talking about why you think the band in question is metal, despite what plenty of others who have complained about their inclusion on MA might say.
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TheBurningOfSodom
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 15, 2022 5:20 pm 
 

If there's one thing I learned throughout the years, way more as a reader than as a writer, is that a good chunk of review describing what the others think is never a good idea. It's your review, your thoughts, and arguably nobody wants to read a detailed explanation of why you think other people are wrong about something. Given that you pointed out that plenty of users already had complains to make, that implies it's a well-known phenomenon and probably you won't need to go much in-depth anyways.

Now, I'm obviously not saying that you can't distance yourself from the masses, and if you think you've got a fair point that few, if any, have already written about, then go for it by all means. Just don't go overboard with nitpicking or you'll end up being this kind of guy more than anything:

Spoiler: show
Image

Of course, it's only my opinion. Hope that cleared it up in some way :lol:
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Boots_Wearing Fairies
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Joined: Wed Jul 20, 2022 4:35 pm
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 24, 2022 12:31 am 
 

I can't believe something as phenomenally stupid as this thread exists. Is this a forum site for heavy metal reviews or a fucking workshop for writing English papers? First I submit a well-written, 10-paragraph long review covering my thoughts on a band, specifically the changes surrounding this group that led to the newest album (the one reviewed) being a complete turd of a record. I mention specifics about the tone, tracks, etc. I even go so far as to say I've listened to this thing several times over and over hoping it wins me over with repetition, but unlike other albums that get better with more listens, it just doesn't. I've given it a fair chance, and I think I can safely say it sucks.

Admin: Sorry, not enough "substance" here. Good start, though.

Seriously, what the actual fuck. It's like they read the first paragraph, went, "Hey, that's not the current album, you must be off-topic" and didn't even bother to read the fucking rest of the thing. After taking an entire week just to get back to me on my initial submission.

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gasmask_colostomy
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 24, 2022 9:46 am 
 

Boots_Wearing Fairies wrote:
I can't believe something as phenomenally stupid as this thread exists. Is this a forum site for heavy metal reviews or a fucking workshop for writing English papers? First I submit a well-written, 10-paragraph long review covering my thoughts on a band, specifically the changes surrounding this group that led to the newest album (the one reviewed) being a complete turd of a record. I mention specifics about the tone, tracks, etc. I even go so far as to say I've listened to this thing several times over and over hoping it wins me over with repetition, but unlike other albums that get better with more listens, it just doesn't. I've given it a fair chance, and I think I can safely say it sucks.

Admin: Sorry, not enough "substance" here. Good start, though.

Seriously, what the actual fuck. It's like they read the first paragraph, went, "Hey, that's not the current album, you must be off-topic" and didn't even bother to read the fucking rest of the thing. After taking an entire week just to get back to me on my initial submission.

How about you send the review so you can get a second opinion?
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Slater922
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Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2020 6:24 pm
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 24, 2022 10:23 am 
 

Boots_Wearing Fairies wrote:
I can't believe something as phenomenally stupid as this thread exists. Is this a forum site for heavy metal reviews or a fucking workshop for writing English papers? First I submit a well-written, 10-paragraph long review covering my thoughts on a band, specifically the changes surrounding this group that led to the newest album (the one reviewed) being a complete turd of a record. I mention specifics about the tone, tracks, etc. I even go so far as to say I've listened to this thing several times over and over hoping it wins me over with repetition, but unlike other albums that get better with more listens, it just doesn't. I've given it a fair chance, and I think I can safely say it sucks.

Admin: Sorry, not enough "substance" here. Good start, though.

Seriously, what the actual fuck. It's like they read the first paragraph, went, "Hey, that's not the current album, you must be off-topic" and didn't even bother to read the fucking rest of the thing. After taking an entire week just to get back to me on my initial submission.

I understand it's a bit frustrating to see your review get rejected for the first time, as I've had a couple of reviews be rejected in my early days in the site. However, it's best to remain calm and post your review here so we can see what the problem is with the lack of substance, and then maybe we can find a way to improve your review and make it acceptable.
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naverhtrad
Metal newbie

Joined: Fri Jan 14, 2011 7:44 pm
Posts: 68
Location: United States
PostPosted: Mon Jul 25, 2022 4:52 pm 
 

TheBurningOfSodom wrote:
If there's one thing I learned throughout the years, way more as a reader than as a writer, is that a good chunk of review describing what the others think is never a good idea. It's your review, your thoughts, and arguably nobody wants to read a detailed explanation of why you think other people are wrong about something. Given that you pointed out that plenty of users already had complains to make, that implies it's a well-known phenomenon and probably you won't need to go much in-depth anyways.

Now, I'm obviously not saying that you can't distance yourself from the masses, and if you think you've got a fair point that few, if any, have already written about, then go for it by all means. Just don't go overboard with nitpicking or you'll end up being this kind of guy more than anything:

Spoiler: show
Image

Of course, it's only my opinion. Hope that cleared it up in some way :lol:


Exactly this.

Of course, I don't think it's necessarily bad form to just mention in passing 'x user said this and I disagree; here's why'. But if you make your beefs with other users the sole point of the review, that leaves less room for us to figure out what you think.

gasmask_colostomy wrote:
Boots_Wearing Fairies wrote:
I can't believe something as phenomenally stupid as this thread exists. Is this a forum site for heavy metal reviews or a fucking workshop for writing English papers? First I submit a well-written, 10-paragraph long review covering my thoughts on a band, specifically the changes surrounding this group that led to the newest album (the one reviewed) being a complete turd of a record. I mention specifics about the tone, tracks, etc. I even go so far as to say I've listened to this thing several times over and over hoping it wins me over with repetition, but unlike other albums that get better with more listens, it just doesn't. I've given it a fair chance, and I think I can safely say it sucks.

Admin: Sorry, not enough "substance" here. Good start, though.

Seriously, what the actual fuck. It's like they read the first paragraph, went, "Hey, that's not the current album, you must be off-topic" and didn't even bother to read the fucking rest of the thing. After taking an entire week just to get back to me on my initial submission.

How about you send the review so you can get a second opinion?


Slater922 wrote:
I understand it's a bit frustrating to see your review get rejected for the first time, as I've had a couple of reviews be rejected in my early days in the site. However, it's best to remain calm and post your review here so we can see what the problem is with the lack of substance, and then maybe we can find a way to improve your review and make it acceptable.


Look, I completely understand that the admins and mods at EM can occasionally be jerks. We're all human. I've been a jerk more than my fair share of the time. It comes with the territory.

But honestly, my experience here hasn't been that admins are super picky pedants or grammar Nazis about what reviews they allow on the site. Mostly what they want to see is that: a.) you engage with the music; b.) you say something meaningful about it; and c.) you communicate effectively to other people who might visit the site.

I'll echo what gasmask and Slater said here: if you post your review here, chances are you're gonna get constructive feedback that'll help you get it posted.

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Dishumanized
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2018 2:12 pm
Posts: 7
Location: Austria
PostPosted: Mon Sep 19, 2022 5:45 am 
 

Hi

I would really appreciate if someone could help me. I would love to write reviews here, but they always get rejected. For example, i tried to post a review for Slayers Repentless several times, but it always gets rejected because “it’s annoying to read and poorly written in sense of grammar and formatting”. English is not my first language, so that may be the problem here.



Quote:
Slayer without Jeff Hanneman and Dave Lombardo - can this work? Kinda yes, but kinda not!

The worts thing about this Album is the pacing! It starts off quite promising at first.
The title track and “Take Control” are 2 solid fast bangers. But after that 4(!) midtempo songs follow, which in principle would have all fit on “Diabolus in Musica”.
I find this completely incomprehensible because Kerry King is the most critical of that album.

Speaking of King, he (who composed over 90% of “Repentless” singlehandedly) is always at his best when he's writing fast stuff.
He proves that with my personal Album highlight “You against You”. So why is there so many boring down tuned midtempo crap on this Album?

What I also don't understand at all is why the song “Atrocity Vendor” made it onto the Album. Too weak for “World Painted Blood” at the time, it was released as a B side.
So why re-record an already released Song when Kerry boasted in interviews that at least 6 more Songs were already done??

Unfortunately the last piece of Music we will ever hear composed by the mighty Jeff Hanneman also cannot keep up with his own brilliant achievements from the past.
His Song “Piano Wire” is also mostly based in mid tempo, and while more interesting and different - like many Hanneman-Tracks – it's mediocre at best.

Tom Araya sounds routine but also somehow tired and emotionless. Actually he sounds like a guy who is fulfilling his duty, and is waiting for his well deserved retirement.
And while i loved Bostaphs drumming on “Divine Intervention” and “God Hates us All”, his performance on "Repentless" is again more like “Diabolus”,
and I kind of hated his performance on that album and think that it is one of the reasons it is wildly considered their worst.

My last complain may be nitpicking, but I really don’t like the Name of the Album.
Slayer have had so many great titles, even mediocre albums like “Diabolus”, “God Hates us All” or “Christ illusion” have those great and very fitting titles.
I Think the Name "Repentless" sound awful, and it makes absolute no sense with the album art and imagery.
For example, "Delusions of Savior" would have been a much more appropriate name.

Highlights are “Repentless”, “Take Control”, “You against You” and some superb Solos by Garry Holt.



Can someone help me what I need to improve here?

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Lord_Of_Diamonds
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2018 5:23 pm
Posts: 1618
Location: United States
PostPosted: Mon Sep 19, 2022 8:05 pm 
 

Let's see... bizarre capitalization of words that aren't proper nouns ("the last piece of Music"), very short paragraphs (if you can even call them that) that jump awkwardly from one thought to another, and an ending that's not very resolving. Try to make longer paragraphs, each focusing on a core idea. An introduction. A single paragraph about your favorite songs, why you like them, and all the things you think the album does right. Another paragraph about your dislikes. A paragraph with a conclusion. This is just a suggestion.
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TheBurningOfSodom
Metalhead

Joined: Sat Jun 27, 2015 9:28 am
Posts: 595
Location: Italy
PostPosted: Tue Sep 20, 2022 1:01 pm 
 

The "annoying to read" reason is... peculiar, to say the least lol. It may have something to do with some unnecessary exclamation marks like in the beginning or maybe excessive whining (e.g. "why re-record...?" "why is there...?" etc.) that also brings me to what Lord_Of_Diamonds said, that is, you definitely need to write more. One doesn't understand what is your overall opinion on the album, rather just that you didn't appreciate certain aspects, and the very short paragraph length doesn't help in making the review feel like a cohesive work instead of a collection of quick thoughts.

Keep also in mind that, as a sort of an unwritten rule, reviews for well-known albums and/or bands will always be subject to a bit more skepticism and will need to be better than average to be accepted, since there are already (in the case of Repentless) 16 other writings, and ideally you should be adding something new/worth reading to what's already been said.

Apart from that, your English isn't that bad actually, awkward capitalization aside. You definitely need to read more reviews on this site to get a better idea of what is considered acceptable. There are a lot of great and prolific writers who have very different styles and hopefully they'll be of some inspiration.

Good luck!
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Big, juicy, veiny, throbbing hard riffs. Big heavy knuckle dragging, cock swaddling compositions for those in fear of soap/bathing. Listen at your own risk. No signs of intelligent life.

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