Yeah, what do I know. But I do like metal so the optional challenge was good fun.
Brother Baker: Starts with a really strong opening riff - I love the whole intro. I'm a purist when it comes to metal and prefer it without keyboard, but that's just a taste thing. Range of vocal styles might have been better sticking to just one - somewhere between the out-and-out growl and the more sung style there were bits I felt were absolutely perfect. Listening to this gives me admiration of how difficult it is to get clarity among the different parts in this style of music, there are bits where it felt a bit confused. Loved the way the guitar rang at the end, I could see it going into a more lyrical middle section.
Brown Word and the Big Whine: Like the riff in the "Can you feel it coming on". Loving the heaviness in the tempo and the drums. The ominous drop for low-so-low is a great change of feel.
Catherine Wacha - Nice subtle lead bits between the singing. Every time it comes in, I feel like I'm coming back home. Makes the backbone of a nice structure.
Cazaro Taro - Short and tight. Reminds me faintly of Jilted John! Like the sparseness of "she's not well". Sweet and quirky lyrics
Duncan Martin - Unusual genre mashup, I'm getting lots of country vibes and a lot of dirt.
Hot Pink Halo - Like the violin and generally really interesting instrumentation. It feels like you have a really good sense of when it's just too much and consistently stop just before that point. This feels like something from Piper at the Gates of Dawn.
Ircusm - Feels like some interesting harmonies over the crunchy guitar base.
Nick Hilton - Like the guitar line, sounds like a healthy amount of drop tuning. Great contrast with the tone of the solo and break.
The Late Heavy Bombardment - The last line of the verse seems to straggle on a bit long, which feels untidy. I like the solo, the song needs the break from the languid feel before this.
Snow Geese - The descending chordline caused by the G# is interesting. Gets quite complex bordering on messy towards the end.
Lichen Throat - Quirky and creative take on the theme. I like the shift in tempo near the end.
magneticletters - This totally made me lol, not just the contrast but the way the OTT grindcore and random beeping guitar.
miscellaneousowl - Makes me want to headbang. The processing on the voice is great. You've totally nailed the sound, the drums and the low guitar. Love the rhythm and repetition in the verse too. Bonus for mentioning Bittern.
moodyvermin - I like the intentional use of uncomfortable harmonies in the prechorus(?) guitars. The white morph chorus has some great riffage. Like the break section after the 2nd chorus, with the choppy guitars etc. Proper job with the solo!
Night Sky - The penultimate chord in the chorus feels like it's going somewhere else. Nice sax especially in the break. Pleasantly chilled.
Orat0rical0rator - Whatever you're doing with the voice is … interesting. Interesting textures generally.
Phlebia - Properly dirty guitars, and nice contrast between them. Love the topic, my favouritely named mushroom. Like the way you fit the words in the prechorus. The first cousin break is great.
Slyeli - Like the 4th chord on the chorus (Vm?) Good use of strings and the occasional half bar. I like the way you use the brass too.
thievesofreason - I prefer the voice slightly lower in the mix. Like the guitar line between verses. Is that a Blue Box?
Vom Vorton - Intro riff quite reminiscent of an early Manic Street Preachers track (and a good one at that).
There were several songs where I didn't get the link with the title, but then that's probably just because I didn't understand the title. I wondered what it meant, my interpretation was a white supremacist reinventation of the 1970's animated clay figure man (which fortunately for you all I never got round to recording
)