Any reviewers out there looking for a home?

The Metal Resource is looking for new reviewers. Any takers? (taken from their website, http://mauce.nl/site/)

We Are Looking for an All-Round & a Metal/Hardcore Reviewer
Posted by thrashboy on November 15, 2019 at 12:34 Add comments
 
We are looking for an all-round CD reviewer. This is what we ask of you:
“Basic requirements

• You have free time, that you want to invest in the website
  
  
• You agree with Mauce.nl’s mission statement and act accordingly
  
  
• You have experience in writing articles / reviews.
  
  
• Knowledge of the English language.
  
  
• Love for rock and metal music
  
  
• Work with deadlines for publications.
  * You have the time and capability to write at least two reviews each month.
  

• You’re not biased against any genre and if you are then it won’t show in your reviews. You can form a few paragraphs of well written explanations on why an album is or is not good. You can be as unbiased as possible.
  

“What do you get in return?”
*  There is no money involved (sorry).We’re a magazine made for fans, run by fans for more than thirteen years now.

• You get to keep any promo’s you review
  
  
• You do get the joy of watching your own material, being posted in our online metal magazine with your name on it, posted on all our social media and you will be part of our international crew.
  

Still interested, or if you have any questions, contact us via the email address below and tell us about yourself, give us a motivation and if possible send us an example of your writing skills.
themetalresource@gmail.com

Sorry, I can only give my biased opinion 

Through The Dark Radio wrote:

Sorry, I can only give my biased opinion 

  Me too!
I might have seriously given it a shot except I have nothing to bring to the table for experience even listening to most extreme metal and especially not the core stuff.

Through The Dark Radio wrote:

Sorry, I can only give my biased opinion 

lol. Ain't it the truth. All they ask is that your bias doesn't show in reviews. We recently had our first ever negative review. It was a total roasting and was definitely biased. It was in a secular publication and whoa the dude was not interested in our work. He did not like my voice, said John's guitar playing was thin, had nothing positive to say about the songwriting, and had nothing nice to say except that the packaging was solid. lol

This is what happens when one's bias comes through in a review. I suppose compared to a grinding busy death metal axe, John's guitar could be called thin. lol, I mean, you can hear every note he plays so it must be thin right. 

You guys would be better at working around your bias I think.... well, maybe not Jeff. 

Jen5 wrote:

Quote :

We recently had our first ever negative review. It was a total roasting and was definitely biased.

We had a fairly lame review of our first album.  The reason it was lame is that the reviewer didn't say anything about the music other than "this song sounds like so and so".  That's a not a review.  That's just a comparison.

I suppose if the review site is strictly about helping people find "bands that sound like..." your reviewer would be very useful, Xid, but personally I like reading reviews that break things down a bit. Talk guitars and tone. Talk about the recording and the vocalist and the lyrics. Give some highlights and point out the weaknesses (I actually really appreciate the criticism cause it gives me something to work on).

It's definitely an art form. I really like Andy's reviews on Angelic Warlord, not because he's all roses, but because he breaks the songs down and finds something constructive to say. It might be criticism or it might be praise, but it's constructive and always appropriate to the genre that he's reviewing. Heaven's Metal also does a nice well-rounded review too.

Jen5 wrote:

Through The Dark Radio wrote:

Sorry, I can only give my biased opinion 

lol. Ain't it the truth. All they ask is that your bias doesn't show in reviews. We recently had our first ever negative review. It was a total roasting and was definitely biased. It was in a secular publication and whoa the dude was not interested in our work. He did not like my voice, said John's guitar playing was thin, had nothing positive to say about the songwriting, and had nothing nice to say except that the packaging was solid. lol

This is what happens when one's bias comes through in a review. I suppose compared to a grinding busy death metal axe, John's guitar could be called thin. lol, I mean, you can hear every note he plays so it must be thin right. 

You guys would be better at working around your bias I think.... well, maybe not Jeff. 

I wouldn't mind doing it since I've done plenty of reviews in the past. I just don't know if I'll have the time . . . . NOOOO TIMMEEEEE NO TIME!!! Is that my constant cry? No time to help those in need! At last it's time to DIIIEEEE!!! 

Not to bash anyone here on our board who reviews music or has (or has had) and internet radio station.  But I have read some really poor reviews and even listened (briefly) to a few poor internet radio streams.  I get that feeling that some of these people do feeble review postings and poor internet podcasts or streams in the hopes of getting a bunch of free music.  Many of them have no business doing music reviews and/or seriously lack the ability to put together an entertaining podcast/stream.
Maybe I should start a reviewing site that does reviews on music reviewers. 

Staybrite wrote:

Not to bash anyone here on our board who reviews music or has (or has had) and internet radio station.  But I have read some really poor reviews and even listened (briefly) to a few poor internet radio streams.  I get that feeling that some of these people do feeble review postings and poor internet podcasts or streams in the hopes of getting a bunch of free music.  Many of them have no business doing music reviews and/or seriously lack the ability to put together an entertaining podcast/stream.
Maybe I should start a reviewing site that does reviews on music reviewers. 

Oh definitely. When every review costs the band (in product and postage) it's important to do the research and not just send to every person who requests an album. I've spent hours reviewing reviewers to decide who to send to. We could team up, G. Reviewers would hate us. We'd become the blacksheep of the music world.

I've come to realize that the Christian rock/metal scene, if not the whole music scene (I just think it's more obvious in our scene), has a lot of wannabes. I used to be a wannabe reviewer and rocker in my teenage years, but I've learned my limits. There's a lot of frankly awful music out there made by people with the best of intentions, but it still falls flat. I count a lot of my early attempts at writing and recording in that falling flat category. Same with reviews. Writing is easy, good writing is hard - I realize it every time I try to write anything at all.

Bah, humbug.

I'd consider the reviewing position, but I don't have the passion or time for it either. It would be a good exercise in learning to write well.