Submission Guidelines

If you want me to review your album or your artist's album, if you are a PR Firm or Record Label, read these guidelines to make sure neither of us is wasting the other's time. There are only so many hours in the day, and at any given time, I might be writing for five different blogs, so my time is best invested in music I am going to enjoy. Certain months of the year, I place focus on certain genres of music, and those will be mentioned below, which does not mean I won't review another album of a different genre that month if I dig the album, but it might be on the back burner unless it really blows me away. 

So here is what I want broken down by genre...though a rule of thumb is the darker the better

 I want Black Metal l place the most emphasis on this genre in February. 

What I don't want is another blast fest or something that sounds like a Darkthrone album I heard ten years ago. I prefer my black metal to be depressive; this trend of ripping off Dissection is no longer going to fly now that I already have Watain and Tribulation under my belt. Don't want it to sound like the album was recorded in yout your grandma's basement, but don't sound like Nightwish either. Some of my favorite black metal bands are Shining(Sweden), Tombs, Urfaust, Totalselfhatred, Lifelover, Mayhem, Weakling & Nachtmystium if you need a point of reference in the sonic neighborhood.


 I want Doom... My emphasis on it is in November 

What I want from doom is the darkness and sonic depth of funereal doom, without every song being dragged out over ten minutes. No excessive Sabbath worship, more doom than retro rock. Here is a rule for death doom, since that applies to the current trend. If you are death doom, you need to do more than just play slow death metal; I need melancholy. My favorite doom bands are Pallbearer, Mournful Congregation, Evoken, Loss, Solitude Aeturnus,  and Esoteric...don't rip these guys off, but you know the sonic zip code I am moving in.

 I want Death Metal.,,, My emphasis on it is in June 

I want my death metal to be deep, dark, and atmospheric, yet not a total Incantation or Morbid Angel rip off, nothing derivative of Cannibal Corpse, though some gore-grind works for me if it grooves. See the above rules about death doom as well. My favorite death metal bands are ...200 Stab Wounds, Obituary, Frozen Soul, Morbid Angel, Goatwhore. Stuff in those realms works.

 I want Thrash...My emphasis for this is in May

I want it dark,  think Voivod, Dark Angel, and Testament, but don't be a carbon copy of those bands, melody and catchy riffs must. I like Power Trip, but do not want a watered-down version of what they do.

 I want Punk and Hardcore...

Nothing too political where I feel I am being preached at. Be able to play your instruments and write a song. If you don't know how to do this, refer to the Misfits or Minor Threat. Dark is good, just ask old Iceage. Fast won't make you better, loud might. My favorite punk bands aside from the ones mentioned here are ...New Model Army, TSOL, The Stooges, the Dead Boys, Black Flag, Poison Idea, Discharge...you get the picture. When it comes to hardcore, I'm into Converge, Integrity, Bloodlet, Harms Way, Overcast, Starkweather and Snapcase

 I am not opposed to Power-metal and Folk metal.. My emphasis for this is in May, you might have figured out it's my catch-all metal month. 

.I don't want either to be too happy or sound like Helloween. Be dark and angry, think Kamelot or Tyr. Give me something that makes me want to play D&D without cheesing me out. No LARPing. Iron Maiden is one of my favorite bands, but I don't want anyone else to soung like them.


 One of the things I want the MOST is death rock.... my emphasis is in October

I need it to be t sonically intense, sleazy, drugged out, surreal, be able to sing and not just a punk band playing dress up...do drugs and make me believe it. Favorite death rock bands include Christian Death, Alaric, Atriarch, Cemetery, 45 Grave, Specimen, Alien Sex Fiend

I want Industrial.. . My emphasis is in October

I want it to have more instruments than laptops, but not just covering old Swans, have the guitars and drums crush me and make me think the world is ending., I am into Skinny Puppy, Author & Punisher, HEALTH, and Youth Code. 


 I want indie rock...

I need it to be dark, be melodic, be angular, use cool guitar tones, don't just jangle, have some balls, experiment, shoegaze is fine, just write songs, don't drone. Some of my favorite indie rock bands include Pinback, Minus the Bear, the Smiths, the Dears, the Twilight Sad, Glasvegas

 I want sludge...my emphasis is in November

don't just sound like Neurosis, check out Bloodlet, dark as fuck is a must, atmosphere a plus, dynamics just as important, other examples include Acid Bath, Fistula, Ilsa, Fister, Amen Ra


 What I want the most is also Goth...My emphasis is in October

How i want it ? With good beats and vocals are a must. Work old and new into something of your own. Elegance is a must. Siouxsie rip-offs, no thanks. A dash of dark wave helps. Goth covers a lot of ground, so here are some of the places I go: Cocteau Twins, Type O Negative, Bauhaus, Strvngers

 I want rock..

It gets tricky here...  some kind of shadow side or melancholy is a must, Black Foxxes did an excellent job of doing this a couple of years ago, as did most of the grunge bands from the 90s. Have some balls, I don't expect you to be metal.

 I want prog rock...

There is a huge gap left by Sleepy Time Gorilla Museum. At the same time, I love 70s prog like Gabriel era Genesis and King Crimson, so dark, not too happy or flowery, be able to shred when needed, but not just acrobatics, most importantly, don't sound like Dream Theater. I hate vocals that sound like Journey

I am also fine with other kinds of music, Country, Pop, folk, hip hop...be dark, be different. If you are Taylor Swift and an absolute songwriting savant, then the dark thing has wiggle room. But there is only one Tay Tay. ...other bands I am into are Amigo the Devil, the Dead South, Chrvches, King Dude, Ween, Modest Mouse, Death Cab For Cutie, Pale Waves, Rasputina, or go hunt down my Last Fm... Wilcifer


 IF YOU DON'T FOLLOW THESE RULES, I WILL DELETE YOU IN 30 SECONDS. By all means, be original, if you can break these rules but deliver what's in the bounds of my tastes in a way that will compete with the shit I normally listen to do it, I want new music. Obviously, anything along the lines of The Smiths, David Bowie, the Cure, Kate Bush, the Cocteau Twins, or Dead Can Dance works for me; it's the fine line between new and familiar

What I do not have any use for is singles and splits, full albums only, no live albums, mp3 zip files preferred. I need to have it in my iPod and listen to it for a bit to really fully digest it, and just streaming only limits my process. As always, email it to wcifer@gmail.com