Hello everyone and welcome to my Walrus. For those of you unfamiliar, a walrus is a competition in which people enter to submit songs to categories provided by the host. The host will judge and reveal scores for the songs on a scale of 1 to 10 over a number of weeks and at the end the participant with the most points wins. To participate, you have to reply to this thread indicating that you are "in" and submit songs to me via a smogon PM (Please, PM me a specific Youtube Link for each songs if possible).
So, uh, here's a bit about me:
I hate most pop and country music with a passion; please don’t submit these genres to me. I won’t take kindly to troll submissions unless there’s some genuine attempt at humor or making an intellectual argument about something. However, if you want to prove my tastes wrong with a thoughtful song from one of these genres then you are very welcome to try.
Rock, Metal, and rock/metal inspired alternative are really where I thrive musically. Please, submit stuff that is within these genres if possible. My “base” is probably late 90s to present hard rock/metal and I *generally* dislike a lot of the 80s hair bands and stuff for being loud without content, though there are exceptions. If it’s well crafted, I can dig some softer rock as well.
I tend to have a balanced grading of musical “sound” and lyrical or intellectual “content” and both are equally important to me when I listen to music. A song that might be interesting instrumentally can be ruined to me by insanely cliché or boring/meaningless lyrics (unless it’s some song that is directly toying with the theme of meaninglessness in a grander intellectual sense). In the same token, a song that is purely the spoken/sung word without any attempt at something interesting with the music/instruments can be boring to me as well. I will tend to analyze how the lyrics and the musical structure relate to one another. Certain songs I might value music over lyrics or vice versa and I’ll try to do that on a case by case basis depending on what I perceive the artist as trying to emphasize (submitting a song without any lyrics is totally fine). But in general, both are very important to me.
I am a practicing visual artist. While I don’t have a lot of education in music, I feel like my background lets me appreciate originality and the intent of music even if I personally don’t like it. As a result, my judging might be not just if I like a song, but also if I can appreciate it for what it is trying to do. That said, of course I’m a biased human and will generally grade stuff I like higher than stuff I don’t.
Though I won’t require them, I would appreciate a short write up explaining your submissions.
With that said, my categories are listed below. I tried to keep the categories fairly loose so that you guys can focus on giving me good songs rather than searching for a mediocre song that fits a narrow parameter.
1. Super Group – Submit a song by a band that is comprised of multiple members from other, differing well-known acts. With your submission, please list who in the Super Group is from which previous band.
Example: Starlight by Gone is Gone (Mastodon’s Troy Sanders, Queen of the Stone Age’s Troy Van Leeuwen, At the Drive In’s Tony Hajjar)
2. Something New – Submit a song that was first released in 2015 or later. Easy, right?
Example: Roots by In This Moment
3. Moody – Submit a song that is moody or edgy or emotional. Something that is dark or introspective is preferred. Show me the beauty of a song that isn’t about happy stuff. Angst is fine. I’m keeping it broad really. A sugary sweet song will catfail.
Example: Black Honey by Thrice
4. Get Technical – Stealing this from Blazade: “Here I want to see something where it's obvious that an instrumentalist or vocalist is very talented at what they do. Exceptional range, difficult motifs, a thrilling solo section, even a unique tone or emotion can qualify here. There's a lot of wiggle room, so surprise me.”
I won’t provide an example for this cat since there’s so many ways to do this cat justice that a single example (or a few) won’t be enough. Translation: I’m lazy.
5. Vices – Stealing this from LG: “Submit a song that is about something at one point considered a taboo in society. This can be alcohol, sex, violence, drugs, etc.”
Example: March to the Sea by Baroness
6. Contrast – Submit a song that is filled with audible contrast. This can come from differing vocal styles (sing/screaming, etc), contrast in loud/soft, slow/fast, raw/polished, or almost anything else you can think of that contrasts.
Example: One or Seven by Hills of Elysium
7. Lyrical Journey – Submit a song that is just taken to the next level through its use of lyrics. Lyrics should not be clichés or if clichés are used there should be enough variation and contemplation to go beyond a common interpretation.
Example: Funny by Scars on Broadway
8. Step by Step Marathon – Submit a long or longish song that is full of or inspired by progressive elements. In other words, submit a prog or priggish song. I’ll let you decide how long is long enough. If it is 20 minutes long with insanely slow build up without any oomph by the end then I’ll probably get bored though.
Example: Magma by Gojira
9. What’s Next? / Beyond Genres – Submit a song that, while having rock/metal influences, is very hard to identify a well-defined genre/subgenre within it OR a song that is at the front or beginning of a new genre (of rock/metal/something related). A unique use of eclectic influences or a sound with very few comparable peers could be acceptable for this cat. Furthermore, while I utterly hate the labels such a “post rock” and “post metal” I feel like some of the acts with these labels fit well into this cat.
Example: Baby Blue by Deafheaven
10. Free choice – Submit any song of your choice (preferably something that is still rock or metal o at least vaguely so).
Come on guys, you don’t need an example for this one
Bonus Points:
For any song I naturally score a 7 or above that I’ve never heard before, I will bump its score by half a point. This is to encourage anti-pandering and to increase my musical exposure.
I won’t actually enforce this with real bonus points since I think it’s almost self-defeating to bring it up as something in need of a boost, but I highly encourage at least one song to have a female vocalist or co-vocalist; there are a lot of talented bands to pick from that meet this, and that’s why I think bonus points itself is unnecessary. If you’re a white dude who listens to only other white dudes shriek out some dope rock or metal, I’m asking you to try to expand your horizons a bit.
Please don’t submit any song that I’ve previously submitted to another Walrus or a song that I’ve specifically talked to you about (if it’s a song that YOU submitted to a different Walrus though then it’s fair game as long as I never talked to you about it). If I see one of these accidentally submitted I’ll just let you know in advance of the reveal.
Please get your category 1 through 3 songs submitted by Sunday Oct. 8th and your other songs in as you are able to. I'm considering doing a reveal of cats 1 through 3 all in one go but we'll see how that goes.
Received Submissions from (bold = full subs, not bold = partial subs):
Rodan
SketchUp
KnightsOfCydonia
StevenSnype
Hys
Asek
Da Letter El
Shubaka
Walrein
Aladyyn
Soviet
EpicUmbreon29
VonFiedler
Old_Gregg
tcr
Blazade
LG
mxmts
FlameStar
Granny Pie
Slurmz
Myzozoa
Waiting on Submissions from:
LucarioOfLegends
KrazyCake
So, uh, here's a bit about me:
I hate most pop and country music with a passion; please don’t submit these genres to me. I won’t take kindly to troll submissions unless there’s some genuine attempt at humor or making an intellectual argument about something. However, if you want to prove my tastes wrong with a thoughtful song from one of these genres then you are very welcome to try.
Rock, Metal, and rock/metal inspired alternative are really where I thrive musically. Please, submit stuff that is within these genres if possible. My “base” is probably late 90s to present hard rock/metal and I *generally* dislike a lot of the 80s hair bands and stuff for being loud without content, though there are exceptions. If it’s well crafted, I can dig some softer rock as well.
I tend to have a balanced grading of musical “sound” and lyrical or intellectual “content” and both are equally important to me when I listen to music. A song that might be interesting instrumentally can be ruined to me by insanely cliché or boring/meaningless lyrics (unless it’s some song that is directly toying with the theme of meaninglessness in a grander intellectual sense). In the same token, a song that is purely the spoken/sung word without any attempt at something interesting with the music/instruments can be boring to me as well. I will tend to analyze how the lyrics and the musical structure relate to one another. Certain songs I might value music over lyrics or vice versa and I’ll try to do that on a case by case basis depending on what I perceive the artist as trying to emphasize (submitting a song without any lyrics is totally fine). But in general, both are very important to me.
I am a practicing visual artist. While I don’t have a lot of education in music, I feel like my background lets me appreciate originality and the intent of music even if I personally don’t like it. As a result, my judging might be not just if I like a song, but also if I can appreciate it for what it is trying to do. That said, of course I’m a biased human and will generally grade stuff I like higher than stuff I don’t.
Though I won’t require them, I would appreciate a short write up explaining your submissions.
With that said, my categories are listed below. I tried to keep the categories fairly loose so that you guys can focus on giving me good songs rather than searching for a mediocre song that fits a narrow parameter.
1. Super Group – Submit a song by a band that is comprised of multiple members from other, differing well-known acts. With your submission, please list who in the Super Group is from which previous band.
Example: Starlight by Gone is Gone (Mastodon’s Troy Sanders, Queen of the Stone Age’s Troy Van Leeuwen, At the Drive In’s Tony Hajjar)
2. Something New – Submit a song that was first released in 2015 or later. Easy, right?
Example: Roots by In This Moment
3. Moody – Submit a song that is moody or edgy or emotional. Something that is dark or introspective is preferred. Show me the beauty of a song that isn’t about happy stuff. Angst is fine. I’m keeping it broad really. A sugary sweet song will catfail.
Example: Black Honey by Thrice
4. Get Technical – Stealing this from Blazade: “Here I want to see something where it's obvious that an instrumentalist or vocalist is very talented at what they do. Exceptional range, difficult motifs, a thrilling solo section, even a unique tone or emotion can qualify here. There's a lot of wiggle room, so surprise me.”
I won’t provide an example for this cat since there’s so many ways to do this cat justice that a single example (or a few) won’t be enough. Translation: I’m lazy.
5. Vices – Stealing this from LG: “Submit a song that is about something at one point considered a taboo in society. This can be alcohol, sex, violence, drugs, etc.”
Example: March to the Sea by Baroness
6. Contrast – Submit a song that is filled with audible contrast. This can come from differing vocal styles (sing/screaming, etc), contrast in loud/soft, slow/fast, raw/polished, or almost anything else you can think of that contrasts.
Example: One or Seven by Hills of Elysium
7. Lyrical Journey – Submit a song that is just taken to the next level through its use of lyrics. Lyrics should not be clichés or if clichés are used there should be enough variation and contemplation to go beyond a common interpretation.
Example: Funny by Scars on Broadway
8. Step by Step Marathon – Submit a long or longish song that is full of or inspired by progressive elements. In other words, submit a prog or priggish song. I’ll let you decide how long is long enough. If it is 20 minutes long with insanely slow build up without any oomph by the end then I’ll probably get bored though.
Example: Magma by Gojira
9. What’s Next? / Beyond Genres – Submit a song that, while having rock/metal influences, is very hard to identify a well-defined genre/subgenre within it OR a song that is at the front or beginning of a new genre (of rock/metal/something related). A unique use of eclectic influences or a sound with very few comparable peers could be acceptable for this cat. Furthermore, while I utterly hate the labels such a “post rock” and “post metal” I feel like some of the acts with these labels fit well into this cat.
Example: Baby Blue by Deafheaven
10. Free choice – Submit any song of your choice (preferably something that is still rock or metal o at least vaguely so).
Come on guys, you don’t need an example for this one
Bonus Points:
For any song I naturally score a 7 or above that I’ve never heard before, I will bump its score by half a point. This is to encourage anti-pandering and to increase my musical exposure.
I won’t actually enforce this with real bonus points since I think it’s almost self-defeating to bring it up as something in need of a boost, but I highly encourage at least one song to have a female vocalist or co-vocalist; there are a lot of talented bands to pick from that meet this, and that’s why I think bonus points itself is unnecessary. If you’re a white dude who listens to only other white dudes shriek out some dope rock or metal, I’m asking you to try to expand your horizons a bit.
Please don’t submit any song that I’ve previously submitted to another Walrus or a song that I’ve specifically talked to you about (if it’s a song that YOU submitted to a different Walrus though then it’s fair game as long as I never talked to you about it). If I see one of these accidentally submitted I’ll just let you know in advance of the reveal.
Please get your category 1 through 3 songs submitted by Sunday Oct. 8th and your other songs in as you are able to. I'm considering doing a reveal of cats 1 through 3 all in one go but we'll see how that goes.
Received Submissions from (bold = full subs, not bold = partial subs):
Rodan
SketchUp
KnightsOfCydonia
StevenSnype
Hys
Asek
Da Letter El
Shubaka
Walrein
Aladyyn
Soviet
EpicUmbreon29
VonFiedler
Old_Gregg
tcr
Blazade
LG
mxmts
FlameStar
Granny Pie
Slurmz
Myzozoa
Waiting on Submissions from:
LucarioOfLegends
KrazyCake
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