Claude refuses to use triggers

Album Rating: 1.5

hahahaha

Album Rating: 4.0

The drums sound more fake on the original than they do on this one. I think Matt claimed to be using triggers on CYB but people commonly accused them of using entirely programmed drums.

“I would have said this same thing in high school lol”

Cool.

Album Rating: 4.0

Larkin bro you gotta put it in quotation marks when you're quoting someone, especially if it was on the previous page. You just had me hella confused.

lol. Ok I forget to sometimes. I’ll edit…

Album Rating: 4.0

I didn't think this would be so polarising. It's just a nostalgia trip with better production (apparently this is subjective though lol) It's fun AF, and I think it's cool to give something to their early fan base, considering how much they've shifted from their original sound.

Album Rating: 2.0

Exceptional review. Well-written and informed. Quality stuff.

As for the album, I remember feeling like this was a forbidden album back in the day. Like stumbling across a Playboy in the forest, it felt like I was crossing a boundary with just how unrelenting and weird the album was at times. Granted, I didn't really care for it then and while I can appreciate the work the band did to bring this forward into modern day, there's a mystique to the album that is waxed, buffed, and sheened away in the name of modernity. The band should be applauded for truly giving a shit with how they approached reworking this album, criticism notwithstanding. There are other albums that I wish received the same treatment instead of simply cleaning up the masters.

Album Rating: 3.5

This is a lot better than the original but its still not a good genre. This band is much more enjoyable making normal mainstream pop metal.

Album Rating: 2.0

This is the Disney live action remake version of this album

Album Rating: 2.0

Nailed it. I’ll give them credit for revisiting the “heavy” era long after its lifespan, cool to see any band that got softer do that, but I don’t have to think it sounds good

bruh i tried to read this review but the first paragrph gave me a headache would you have lost anything if you cut that shit

Album Rating: 1.5

haha jr almost fit that in my review, moana coming out the same week is pretty funny

Album Rating: 2.0

"A Lot Like Vegas" is probably the worst offender for me so far wrt the production. It's like everything is shoved to one end of the spectrum. That mid-song breakdown is just straight mud. Guitars are noisegated to within an inch of their lives. Plus the amount of times they do the deathcore "sploosh" (that momentary silence followed by the toms, kick, and guitar all hitting the floor at once) in these songs is almost comedic. I know I lauded them for remaking this but, good god, deathcore just isn't for me. Legit ear fatigue by Black & Blue. Had to quit it.

Listened to repented once in full and was unfortunately not super impressed on first listen. Just ripped pray for plagues back-to-back and while repented didn't sound bad, it loses a lot the character of the original especially in the drumming. Within the first 5 seconds of the song, they already choose to exclude some fun drum noises (I know nothing about drumming and will not try to describe what it is they excluded).

Will listen a bit more, but kind of surprised given that I was real impressed by the Black & Blue single.

"Who is out here pearl clutching about shitty deathcore lyrics in the year of our lord 2026"

No one, someone was whining about changing a word and I just said changing a word to cut down on the misogyny is a lot less cringe than the misogyny itself, and then everyone got all defensive and acted like I was attacking Oli for lyrics he wrote 20 years ago lol.

Album Rating: 2.0

Hahahaha it figures man. Also isn’t the guy who produced this supposed to be some modern metalcore production heavyweight? If all his production sounds like this he’s doing more harm than Joey sturgis did in the 2010s

@Death I was more curious where did you spot the misogyny in the first place. No offense but these lyrics don’t exactly scream "I resent all women" to me. Either this or I’m just desensitized.

Album Rating: 2.0

I think it's simply being more mindful of intent, plus the reality that metal is not nearly as male-dominated as it was just 20 years ago so you tend to alienate your audience even if it's meant as performative. I don't think it's "pearl-clutching" to acknowledge that particular word choices communicate a certain point-of-view regardless of intent. Look at what Nergal is doing these days: his message is cringe even if the lyrics themselves are simply eye-rolling and tryhard. But I also get that deathcore is not the repository for meaningful or valuable lyrics. It isn't deathcore necessarily but Killwhitneydead could easily be considered misogynist even if the band's intent was just to shock.

Album Rating: 2.0

Like 90% of deathcore is “u fukkin sluttttt” lyrics