In a way, WRIF is more painful musically than even 955. This is because when you turn on 955 you know you are turning on the equivalent to musical diarrhea. WRIF fails because it covers everything in a layer of faux-abrasive-tough-guy-posing-as metalhead stylings; but still plays the equivalent to musical diarrhea.
Straight from the get-go, WRIF seems tailored for rednecks and NASCAR rallies. Not the cool, REAL kind of rednecks, mind you, who would strap you to a gun rack, dowse you in gasoline, read you the Bible and then flick the match. I love those guys. No, this is more of a rock station for people who enjoy bands like Creed and Puddle of Mudd. Fast food hillbillies who gorge on repetitive rock radio. Consummate middle American consumers, whose knowledge of metal music probably fails to extend past Fred Durst's rantings or Ozzy's "No More Tears".
No matter how many "tough guy" nick-names they give their hosts like "Screamin' Scott" or "Moshin' Matt", they can't make up for the fact that they play watered-down garbage passing as metal. This wouldn't offend me nearly as much if they didn't claim they knew the first thing about heavy-effin' metal. Despite what the ignorant tell you, Slayer is not the only metal band, and playing crap like Shinedown, Buckcherry, and Nickelback nearly every hour defines exactly why this station sucks the big one. read more