Metal Reviews

alexlovestheredchord is a douche

I posted one review there of Join the Army, that was about it. Too much effort

I goto MA once in a while as the site is pretty comprehensive. Sometimes it's the only place you can find a review of an obscure band. Wikipedia is OK too for reference knowledge, but doesn't have reviews (aren't allowed to have an opinion on Wiki)

Hi, I'm new here. I found this site for reviews on albums and I enjoy it so far.

I also enjoy Metal Archives a lot and I have used it for years. Those of you who say that it's primarily "Hungarian black metal elitists" don't really know. Sure, there was a time when the community was really cynical, but I think it's much different now. There's always lots of good discussion and the resources on Metal Archives have been invaluable. If you say you don't use it to look up band information, you are either lying or you're just real dumb. I wouldn't have been able to complete collections without it.

I also agree on this alexlovestheredchord guy and his ilk. There are a lot of shitty reviewers but that's the good thing about it. If you see a shitty review or reviewer that doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground, you can always go to the review discussion forum and explain why you think their review should be removed. I don't pay attention to ratings...read the review and find the reviewers you like. There are a lot of great reviewers that I certainly trust and you get to know their taste. Guys like alexlovestheredchord come and go and usually flame out due to stupidity anyway. There are some that are very entertaining to read and write for legitimate sites. You just have to know where to look.

Glad to be here!

I don't think anyone here is denying that it's a good resource for information.

Welcome to the forums, DFB! Hope you'll stay around awhile.

I pretty much agree with everything you said... a lot of the reviews are shit, but the information you can get from it is second to none. As I said previously, MA makes my job as a reviewer MUCH easier, and I know that at least a few other reviewers here rely on it too. Plus, it's an easy place to get an idea of what other people think about an album so that you can compare your opinion to theirs.

Thanks! I also run an independent label and it's always good to know what people are writing about the bands we sign. I'd really prefer not to say which label as I'd like a more unbiased view.

At any rate, thanks for the welcome.

For the most part this site actually writes their reviews with substance, my problem with the guys from MA is the pretentious nature of the reviews. Guys like Hells_unicorn, Anationalacrobat, and Napero, truly just write to cater to their like minded rabble. Very seldom with the exception of reviewers like Noktorn and Autothrall; do you see even someone who remotely resembles a reviewer.

What you'll notice at least on this site are the writers, take the time to leave the pseudo-intellectual banter and WRITE about music. Thats the difference between here and MA, and the forum is even worse off. This of course is solely my opinion of course, and welcome to the site man.

I think I have one or two reviews up, one is a Bloodthorn review. It's been years.

I don't know about you, but I do enjoy some humor in a review. It breaks up the monotony of the same ol' "the vocals are this" b.s.

Basically, there are no standards for reviews. I like the fact that I can read different opinions from different people AND get a different presentation or style each time. "Like-minded rabble" can be fun sometimes and it can make a review interesting. Sure, I want the bottom line but I don't want a cookie cutter reviewer either.

Ignore the people who can't write very well or whose styles you don't enjoy and follow the writers you do enjoy. There are quite a few reviewers on Metal Archives that I enjoy. That, and I enjoy reading underground reviews. I don't care about reading reviews for the same old shit that everyone else is reviewing. Pay attention to the smaller labels...there is some great music that often gets overlooked by most sites. Nuclear Blast, Relapse, Southern Lord, Earache...you can find reviews for those labels everywhere.