LOL Dan, thanks for the funny comment! And needless to say, I agree with you.
And I tend to agree with Oinkness....reviews in today's age are rather pointless now. It's just as quick and easy for someone to do an internet search and actually download a clip or a song or even a whole cd, and judge for themselves, which is what I'd much rather they did.
I get too upset about this sort of thing, not only because it affects us in instances such as this one, but because I am a big fan of music publications, and have been for most of my life. One big regret I have is that I never pursued journalism, because I'd love to write for a magazine. I have so much musical history in my head from reading rock magazines since I was about 7 years old. I feel very honored to have been featured prominently in mags like Metal Maniacs and BW&BK over the years, since I was buying and reading those mags religiously for years before ever appearing in them. Of course it sucks to have to see a negative review of your band, or a friends band, or a band you really like, but when it's at least done constructively and objectively, I have respect for it. Even as a broke musician I have no qualms about slapping down $5 or $7 for a good rock/metal magazine.....but when I see piss poor writing and critical journalism such as this, I'm offended.
As for the comparisons thing.....y'know I've started to look at it a bit differently lately, especially since reading reviews for TNR. I've seen us compared to sounding like MDB, Opeth, Katatonia, Anathema, Paradise Lost, Amon Amarth, Edge of Sanity....amongst others. Y'know, in my mind, even if we are really similar to that group of mixed bands, I think that's a pretty goddamn good mix for a band to sound like
Every one of those bands kicks ass, in my opinion. We may not be as groundbreaking or popular or unique as some of those bands are/were, but that's ok. We're not trying to reinvent the wheel here, just write some enjoyable music for people who like that kind of music. Plain and simple.
