Written by BloodTears on 02.11.2011 at 19:53


Props on the review, Joe. I like your signature, btw.

Written by Slayer666 on 02.11.2011 at 20:09

You just had to stick it to everyone with this review, didn't you...
Will be checking it out as soon as possible.

Written by Guest on 02.11.2011 at 20:11

I felt it was my duty.

Hope you like it. If you don't then you're faulty and need to get sent back to the factory.

Written by Susan on 04.11.2011 at 05:03

I can't believe you don't like "House Carpenter"!!! I think it's a great song on its own but ALSO in context. The lyrics and harmonies are appropriately creepy and nostalgic at the same time, and it's a nice sort of "rest" in the pacing of the album; it gives us a break from the onslaught without dropping the energy level and emotion. Plus, it's a nice surprise and just damn fun

Agree with the rest of your review 100% though!! I'm so glad you reviewed this one. Definitely one I'm glad I heard this year.

Written by Daniell on 04.11.2011 at 10:44

I wish I could write as well as you do...
Anyways, one thing keeps bugging me in your otherwise extremely adept and excellently written review - why did you refrain from rating the album if you like it so much? Because you'd give it a ten and you want to avoid overreactions that the maximum rating will inevitably cause (remember my Nevermore review)?

Written by Guest on 04.11.2011 at 11:25

Written by Daniell on 04.11.2011 at 10:44

I wish I could write as well as you do...
Anyways, one thing keeps bugging me in your otherwise extremely adept and excellently written review - why did you refrain from rating the album if you like it so much? Because you'd give it a ten and you want to avoid overreactions that the maximum rating will inevitably cause (remember my Nevermore review)?

Ha, I'm not that good a writer, I get envious of other's reviews quite a lot of the time (some people's ability to use analogy and more indepth modes of discussion that are totally beyond me).

The lack of rating is because I don't really believe in ratings anymore (why I didn't rate the last review I did either). A 10 to me personally is not the same as a 10 I would give to a review. A 10 to me means it's something that I enjoy an extremely large amount. The 10 I gave to this album in the votes section is simply to represent an album that towers above all others for me on a personal basis and one that I feel will belong with all those other 10s I've given out. I don't think this album is a 10 objectively, probably something above or around a 9 but I don't like the sheer arbitrariness of trying to quantify my review down to 100th of a point.

Written by Merchant of Doom on 04.11.2011 at 12:45


well, it's a cop out! Half the fun is the rating... if you remove it, then it gets pretty boring... Also, the rating gives an immediate overview of the album and of the reviewer's opinion. Without it, we don't really know where we are standing. It also serves as discriminatory function for the reader. Not everybody has the time to read all the reviews. Personally, I don't bother with some, if I don't know the band or if it's a genre I listen to infrequently... and then it gets a 5!

BTW, I hated the Carpenter's song too... completely out of place and it disrupts the flow. Having said that, for me the album is in the top 10 this year...

Written by Guest on 04.11.2011 at 12:58

Written by Merchant of Doom on 04.11.2011 at 12:45


well, it's a cop out! Half the fun is the rating... if you remove it, then it gets pretty boring... Also, the rating gives an immediate overview of the album and of the reviewer's opinion. Without it, we don't really know where we are standing. It also serves as discriminatory function for the reader. Not everybody has the time to read all the reviews. Personally, I don't bother with some, if I don't know the band or if it's a genre I listen to infrequently... and then it gets a 5!

BTW, I hated the Carpenter's song too... completely out of place and it disrupts the flow. Having said that, for me the album is in the top 10 this year...

Who hasn't got time to read a 350 word review? And also who would listen to an album based entirely on album art, band and album name and review score? No one. A review without a score is still a review. A rating without contextual words is just a personal vote. If you don't know where I stand when I said "this is quite possibly the album of the year because of it" then I doubt a random number tacked on will help give an impression of what I think of it.

Lets called my score the "Merchant of Doom Paradigm" - if Merchant of Doom actually likes it then that means that vast majority of others probably will too This album gets Merchant of Doom / 10

Written by Merchant of Doom on 04.11.2011 at 14:05

Lots of people haven't got the time... and all I was trying to say is that review + rating give an immediate idea of the reviewer's stance and it might encourage to read the review, especially if you usually agree with the reviewer. Nobody was talking about just checking the rating or the artwork out. Yes, a review is still a review without the score, but that wasn't my point. I would like to know where you stand straightaway... and it's not a 10 for me... 8,5...

Written by Guest on 04.11.2011 at 14:13

Written by Merchant of Doom on 04.11.2011 at 14:05

Lots of people haven't got the time... and all I was trying to say is that review + rating give an immediate idea of the reviewer's stance and it might encourage to read the review, especially if you usually agree with the reviewer. Nobody was talking about just checking the rating or the artwork out. Yes, a review is still a review without the score, but that wasn't my point. I would like to know where you stand straightaway... and it's not a 10 for me... 8,5...

I don't think I have the ability to accurately represent the words with a number, and I don't think anyone else does for that matter; the arbitrary 7.8s and what have you (why not a 7.7? Where's that 0.1 difference and how would you identify it, let alone write about it?). Numbers in the contexts of reviews are loaded with meaning that go beyond simple ratings and are prone to emotional "baggage" shall we say. A 6.9 has vastly different connotations to a 7.0 because of how people associate with it. A 6.9 in people's minds = bad, where a 7.0 would mean decent. I just choose not to give people the opportunity to be swayed by confusing and mis-representative numbers. If they'e too lazy to read what I wrote then that's entirely their problem (though often they have the time to find new and unusual ways of complaining on such reviews). I'm not even going to go into the endless debates that have gone on on the reviews here where the rating didn't match the review, or where the "objectivity" card has been drawn because people disagree with a score.