iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Bathory - Under the Sign of the Black Mark Haven't dug as much into extreme metal but god i love how this sounds like it was recorded in hell, noise-adjacent tbh Enter the Eternal Fire is an all-timer! Highlights: Enter the Eternal Fire, Equimanthorn, Woman of Dark Desires, Call from the Grave

Bathory - Under the Sign of the Black Mark

(Quorthon has a hilarious lie about this album cover, BTW. He claims he got a bodybuilder to wear a goat mask and pose in his underwear on the stage of an opera, when you can clearly see in the image that he just copied the goat's head onto an existing art piece lmao)

120

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Blind Guardian - Imaginations from the Other Side "Pure" power metal has never been done better than this! Their heaviest record and their most consistent, though their next 2 albums afterward have higher highs imo Highlights: Title track, Bright Eyes, And the Story Ends, A Past and Future Secret

Blind Guardian - Imaginations from the Other Side

(p. sure this is my only 5-star album on RYM without a single 5-star song)

470

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Skinny Puppy - Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse A halfway point between their earlier synthpop and later noisy horror. Better songwriting than their followup; 200 Years is a dark horse for my top 10 SP tracks! Highlights: 200 Years, One Time One Place, God's Gift (Maggot), Love, Stairs and Flowers

Skinny Puppy - Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse

(This album only recently grew on me enough to include here, as it's less consistent than their absolute best work. i prefer other versions of Dig It to the one used here, Burnt With Water is a very rough beta for later longer pieces like Download, and i always forget Three Blind Mice exists. Everything else rules tho!)

100

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

Chat Pile - Remove Your Skin Please EP My fav modern band finally enters the chat (har har)! Big Black meets The Jesus Lizard meets Godflesh meets the dirtbag left, but w/ a more cinematic bent. Dallas Beltway is my #2 song of all time, FYI. Highlights: Dallas Beltway, all of it's great though!

Chat Pile - Remove Your Skin Please

MY BLOOD IS DIRTY GARBAGE WATER

100

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

The Black Mages - The Black Mages i'm not a fan of "arrange" albums for game music, but this is something else. If you can deal w/ the cheesy synths this is strong prog metal - the Gilgamesh theme is total NJPW entrance music! Highlights: Clash on the Big Bridge, J-E-N-O-V-A, Dancing Mad

The Black Mages - The Black Mages

(My main disappointment here is the FF7 boss theme - since that was already a hard-rock track to begin with, this version doesn't add much)

161

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Babyland - You Suck Crap Deleted this post by mistake, so: Hardcore punk w/ old-timey computer sounds in place of guitars (their style is called "computercore"), rivetheads will feel at home here too. A bit of 90s album bloat but so unique i don't mind! Highlights: Smrow-Toh, Mask, Burning Up

120

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Alice in Chains - Jar of Flies These days i'm kind of a grunge hater as i find the music that inspired it much more interesting, but this band is the exception. This one's more relaxed than their most famous album but harrowing in its own way Highlights: Rotten Apple, I Stay Away, Whale & Wasp

Alice in Chains - Jar of Flies

(This is an EP, didn't mention that bc character limit. The first 4 songs have the most obvious appeal, YMMV with the second half)

420

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

To close it off, Game Newton's tier list for Soul Calibur III: Arcade Edition! Remember, Namco used console as the beta test for SC3 - the arcade version is such an improvement you can barely even call them both SC3. All the Variable Cancel bugs are gone, X was nerfed, etc.

Game Newton 2025 Tier List for Soul Calibur III: Arcade Edition

S: Setsuka
A: Astaroth, Mitsurugi, Cassandra, Sophitia
B: Ivy, Xianghua, Kilik, Maxi, Cervantes, Siegfried, Voldo, Zasalamel
C: Yoshimitsu, Yunsung, Olcadan
D: Taki, Seung Mina, Tira, Talim, Amy, Nightmare, Lizardman, Rock, Raphael, Hwang, Li Long

251

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

Onward to Game Newton's 2025 tier list for the beloved Soul Calibur II! Again, the top tiers mostly match the console SC2 consensus (though Talim and ESPECIALLY Maxi are higher here). Cass & Cervy are a bit lower here vs. console, and Kilik quite a bit lower

Game Newton 2025 Tier List for Arcade Soul Calibur II -

S: Mitsurugi, Xianghua
A: Taki, Talim, Nightmare, Ivy, Voldo, Maxi, Yoshimitsu
B: Cassandra, Cervantes, Astaroth
C: Yunsung, Kilik, Raphael, Charade

251

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

Game Newton runs an annual event called SSS World Cup, it's tournaments for the arcade versions of Soul Calibur 1+2+3 One neat detail is the players at the arcade work together and make a tier list for each of the 3 games, then show it on stream before each game starts! Here's (ARCADE) SC1:

Game Newton's 2025 Tier List for Arcade Soul Calibur I -

S: Mitsurugi
A: Sophitia, Yoshimitsu, Lizardman, Astaroth
B: Xianghua, Voldo, Taki
C: Seung Mina, Rock, Hwang, Edge Master
D: Kilik, Ivy, Maxi, Nightmare, Siegfried

33915

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

Chrome - Alien Soundtracks For years i'd thought this was just the beta test for Half Machine Lip Moves, but god was that off! Pygmies in zee Park might be my fav Chrome song & makes me kinda wish they went full goth, haha Highlights: Pygmies in zee Park, Slip it to the Android, Chromosome Damage

120

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

DJ Shadow - Endtroducing A ""RYM album"" that my sibling discovered when we were kids. Instrumental hip-hop/trip-hop w/ a mostly relaxed nighttime vibe, the 90s-ass interludes suck but the rest is gold! Highlights: Midnight in a Perfect World, Changeling, Building Steam with a Grain of Salt

DJ Shadow - Endtroducing.....

(NOTE: Shadow himself is not on the album cover as is often assumed - it's a couple friends of his.)

131

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

Big Black - Songs About Fucking Less experimental than Atomizer, but still full of that buzzsaw guitar sound & Albini's acerbic lyricism. Fish Fry is one of the most straightforward & haunting portrayals of misogyny i've ever heard in music! Highlights: Fish Fry, Bad Penny, L Dopa, Pavement Saw

Big Black - Songs About Fucking

(BTW, this cover art was taken directly from a hentai manga Steve Albini had! Also i couldn't fit it in the character limit but Tiny, King of the Jews is a really strong slower song from this record.)

150

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

T-Ride - T-Ride Like Life Sex & Death, this was a one-and-done project that updated hair metal for the 90s. The difference here is far more influence from black music - you've got New Jack Swing beats and even some rapping! Highlights: Zombies from Hell, Luxury Cruiser, Backdoor Romeo

100

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

The Gerogerigegege - Yellow Trash Bazooka EP Moenai Hai was an anomaly for this band, so here's something in their "classic" style (i.e. yelling "1-2-3-4" then playing 10 seconds of noise vomit before moving on to the next "song"). Here, every song title begins with G! Highlights: Gay, Genderfuck

110

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

Justice - Cross Remember when these guys were Pitchfork darlings? Haven't connected with their later work but this one holds up - the sound is rooted more in disco and less in the aggro robot farts that drenched their next album. Highlights: DVNO, Stress, Genesis, Let There Be Light

220

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile Their true high point imo - if the Left side were a standalone album, it would rank in my top 10! The Right side is less consistent (i'm a Starfuckers hater, sorry) but still def worth being there. Highlights: La Mer, The Great Below, Ripe (With Decay), Pilgrimage

120

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

Butthole Surfers - Butthole Surfers EP The debut for the ur-shitposters of 80s rock, and easily their most "punk" release; there's even a hardcore-punk parody song! One of my fav album openers, and just delightfully stupid all around. Highlights: Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey's Grave, Something, Hey

Butthole Surfers - Butthole Surfers (AKA Pee Pee the Sailor Man)

210

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

Hisayoshi Ogura - Darius Gaiden OST Forgot about my all-time fav game composer! In honor of this game getting into AGDQ i'll say it's possibly my GOAT game soundtrack. Yellow Magic Orchestra made weirder & more otherworldly, w/ VISIONNERZ as a landmark. Highlights: VISIONNERZ, FAKE, SELF, AXON

Hisayoshi "OGR" Ogura - Darius Gaiden OST

260

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

Meat Puppets - Up On the Sun Meat Puppets II is this band's consensus peak, but i say this is their best! They exchange the punk energy from II for a relaxed summertime vibe which i prefer. Two Rivers is absolute god tier! Highlights: Two Rivers, Up on the Sun, Maiden's Milk, Swimming Ground

330

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

Skinny Puppy - Rabies Produced by Al Jourgensen, this puts a much more metal spin on SP's sound. Their most divisive record among the core fanbase but i might enjoy it even more than VIVISectVI these days! Worlock & Tin Omen are top 10 Puppy imo Highlights: Worlock, Tin Omen, Fascist Jock Itch

100

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

Midori - あらためまして、はじめまして、ミドリです Japanese noise jazz-punk fronted by a woman who can be seductive or fucking SCREAM. Yukiko-san is one of the absolute GOAT noise rock tracks, but there's good variety of styles w/ virtually no filler. Highlights: Yukiko-san, Osaru, Howling Jigoku, Kanashii Hibi

Midori - Aratamemashite, hajimemashite, Midori desu

121

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

Nightwish - Once More theater kid metal! The band ditches EU power metal in favor of more Americanized sounds. This was controversial at the time but it's their most beloved album now, thanks to the strong songwriting. Highlights: Ghost Love Score, Dark Chest of Wonders, Romanticide, Planet Hell

150

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

Font Line Assembly - Tactical Neural Implant Back to our usual programming w/ one of THE masterpieces of 90s industrial and the single most "cyberpunk" album i've ever heard. Bill Leeb is a cagey chud, but i have to acknowledge the brilliance here! Highlights: Final Impact, Mindphaser, Gun

Front Line Assembly - Tactical Neural Implant

110

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

The Ballers - A Day Late and a Dollar Short Another one-and-done group a la Life Sex & Death, the theme here is "G-Funk but jazzier w/ lots more rapping about Florida". Me 4 Me uses a sample that would later resurface on Madvillainy! Highlights: Ain't Nothin' Changed, Me 4 Me, Saturday

100

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

Being reminded of Flux Magazine today... For those who don't know, Flux was a pop-culture mag w/ a primary focus on video games, and it only existed for < 10 issues in 1995 i think. It oozed that mid-90s edgelord vibe, shitting on Kiddie Games(tm) in favor of Doom & Mortal Kombat

Cover of Flux #1, feat. Mortal Kombat II as the main story. Other stories advertised include: Suzuka 8 Hrs., Rebel Assault, Rob Zombie, Stone Temple Pilots, Virtua Racing, the Beastie Boys, Rob Liefeld, "How to Make a Fake ID", Danzig, "Star Wars 1997", and DC Comics' "Zero Hour" series.

3145

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

Blind Guardian - Nightfall in Middle-Earth And now we get to my theater-kid side! Power metal w/ some symphonic elements & plenty of Queen DNA, used to retell the Silmarillion. Worth a shot even if you dgaf about LOTR (as i don't)! Highlights: Time Stands Still, Mirror Mirror, Nightfall

480

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

Otoboke Beaver - Itekoma Hits 4 Japanese office ladies w/ very color-coordinated 60s fashion sense form a hardcore punk band and god do i love almost every moment of this. Vocal hooks for days even if you don't know the language! Highlights: Love Is Short, Ikezu, Bad Luck, Bakuro Book

120

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

Skinny Puppy - VIVISectVI Back to my kamioshis, this time with the peak of 80s electro-industrial! Lots of animal-rights & geopolitical stuff here, and am i the only one who thinks the best thing here is Hospital Waste? Highlights: Hospital Waste, Harsh Stone White, VX Gas Attack

110

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

The Gerogerigegege - Moenai Hai Normally a noise band FOR ADVANCED USERS ONLY(tm), the centerpiece of this album is their most accessible work ever - and one of my 5 favorite songs of all time! Track 3 is 22 minutes of kinda nothing tbh, but the rest makes up for it Highlights: The Gerogerigegege

220

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain Figured this was a good time to break up how white this list has been so far, and with the most ~normie~ album in my pantheon! If this is "pop" it's the best pop album of all time. Highlights: Whole thing, I Would Die 4 U & Baby I'm a Star are my favs

140

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

Nitzer Ebb - That Total Age The definitive record of EBM (electronic body music) in my view, this is the sweatiest angriest dance music you'll ever hear! The greatest German group ever to be British~ Highlights: Let Your Body Learn, Murderous, Join in the Chant, Smear Body

110

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Life, Sex & Death - The Silent Majority A hair metal band tries to adapt to the 90s w/ a frontman whose story was pure pro wrestling (and whom you could smell a mile away). How that genre could've evolved... Highlights: Jawohl Asshole, Fuckin' Shit Ass, School's for Fools, Telephone Call

110

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Faith No More - Angel Dust My fav rock album of the 90s, not one skip here besides the closing cover. Just all over the place genre-wise while keeping a coherent feel to it all, still doesn't sound like its many imitators! Highlights: Be Aggressive, Land of Sunshine, Malpractice, Jizzlobber

Japanese release of Faith No More - Angel Dust

1111

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Chu Ishikawa - Tetsuo: The Iron Man OST Yes, one of the GOAT industrial albums was created to soundtrack possibly my favorite movie of all time! If there's another track in this genre as menacing & *heavy* as Tetsuo Dance, i don't know it. Highlights: Tetsuo Dance, Megatron, Drop Hammer

220

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Chrome - 3rd from the Sun And here's the closest sonic precursor to Filth! Less industrial/grimy and a lot more spacey, which makes for a unique atmosphere in this genre. Up there with Half Machine Lip Moves as this band's finest hour. Highlights: Firebomb, Armageddon, Heart Beat

110

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Swans - Filth The most obvious sonic precursor to Big Black, and the only Swans record i truly love thus far (at Soundtracks for the Blind atm). Maybe the album that most leaves me feeling like i need a shower afterward! Highlights: Stay Here, Power for Power, Big Strong Boss, Weakling

120

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

Oh yeah, should post my Real Bout Special tier list from Twitter! Ask me any specifics (well, i know @akumahokoru.bsky.social feels Sokaku should be higher)!

SS: Nightmare Geese, Billy, Duck King, Mai, EX Billy
A: Kim, Yamazaki, Terry, Sokaku, Chonshu, Laurence
B+: Hon-Fu, Krauser, Franco Bash, EX Andy, EX Blue Mary, Tung Fu Rue
B: Andy, Blue Mary, Joe, Chonrei, Bob
B-: Cheng, EX Tung Fu Rue

4165

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

Skinny Puppy's Last Rights - still my favorite album of all time, even wrote my only long music article about it at medium.com/@rashreflect... It's wild to think that a record with "Knowhere?" and "Download" could crack the Billboard 200, but that's the 90s for you i guess!

020

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

World Heroes Perfect tier list for funsies J.Carn & Fuuma could be one tier lower maybe? Considered that for Muscle Power as well but think his mobility makes him a lot better than Erick for certain matchups Used to think Shura was bottom-tier until i saw he could guard crush -> guaranteed super

Banned: Neo-Dio, Zeus
S: Hanzou, Captain Kidd, Ryoko
A+: Ryofu, Jack, J.Carn
A-: J.Max, Dragon, M.Power, Fuuma
B: Rasputin, Erick, Mudman, Brocken, Shura
C: Son Gokuu, Janne

123513

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

Extremely cursed idea for a 3v3 fighting game: TEAM MR. BIG - SNK Mr. Big - Mr. Big from NARC (the giant creepy head version) - Mr. Big from Guardians of the Hood (who is actually a woman) (Fun fact: when Atari teased a Pit-Fighter 2 for the Genesis, the last Mr. Big was one of the characters)

SNK Mr. Big (portrait from Neo-Geo Battle Coliseum)

Mr. Big from NARC (final boss battle here)

Mr. Big from Guardians of the Hood (saying "I'm taking over this crummy town!", yes this is voice-acted in the game too)

Also shoutouts to LordBBH i got this pic from his site!!!

62612

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

#MusicSky Finally started going down the Swans rabbit hole and i'm already loving Filth. This has to be the most obvious ancestor to Big Black's signature sound, right? It's also an example of the less common sort of album imbalance, where the 2nd half is stronger than the 1st half!

100

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

Skinny Puppy - Bites The first of many appearances for my all-time fav group, this leans way more synthpop than their work afterward. Lots of neat little (quasi-)instrumental experiments make this great for relaxed driving Highlights: Assimilate, The Choke, Church, Love, Christianity, One Day

120

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

Army of Lovers - The Gods of Earth and Heaven Very gay Swedish dance-pop written by a future academic philosopher & thus dorky as all hell, but DAMN do they know a hook! More consistent than the album w/ Crucified Highlights: We Are the Universe, Israelism, The Grand Fatigue, Heterosexuality

The Gods of Earth and Heaven album cover

100

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

Revolting Cocks - Beers, Steers, and Queers This might be Al Jourgensen's best record? Branches out sonically more than Ministry did at this time (In the Neck is basically a Pretty Hate Machine cut) w/ a sense of humor Highlights: Stainless Steel Providers, Get Down, Something Wonderful

100

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral Have had a love/hate relationship w/ this one over the years, but it was the most formative album of my childhood. Full of cringe lyricism but the rest is still brilliant Highlights: Hurt, March of the Pigs, The Becoming, Reptile, Closer, A Warm Place

130

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

Big Black - Atomizer Not the most consistent album top to bottom (Strange Things feels unfinished & Albini himself hated it), but maybe my favorite all-around vibe in music history. A window into the darkest corners of rural America! Highlights: the entire first half + Bazooka Joe

230

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

Hey i'll do this since it's basically the same thread i had back on the other site

2641

joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social @joshthefunkdoc.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

OK, here's my attempt at a full tier list for Real Bout Special - can't do a thread explaining everyone atm but can mention a few things below

SS Tier: Nightmare Geese, Billy, Duck King, Mai, EX Billy

A Ter: Kim, Yamazaki, Terry, Sokaku, Chonshu, Laurence

B+ Tier: Hon-Fu, Krauser, Franco, EX Andy, EX Mary, Tung

B Tier: Andy, Mary, Joe, Chonrei, Bob

B- Tier: Cheng, EX Tung

3147