im looking to try a new distro.. distros i tried before are, and keep in mind a lot of this was like 5 years ago or more, gentoo, slackware, debian (all long ago), ubuntu, mint, archlinux

im looking to try something new, see if theres something else out there i might like

some of the ones im considering are the newest versions of slackware, or debian testing (i believe the testing branch is like their most updated rolling release?) and other ones that stand out as being popular are pclinuxos, mepis,

id like something with less bloat than ubuntu, i like to start out basic and build from there, usually with some sort of a package manager (which is why arch is my favorite, but i havent tried debian in over 5 years)

so.. suggestions?

Well, looks like you have already tried the best, so pick one and go, own it and make it yours. All else is mostly spinoffs of what you have already tried. Having said that, perhaps:

http://linuxbbq.org/about.html
http://iso.killx.org/index.html
http://www.voidlinux.eu/
http://antix.mepis.org/index.php?title=Main_Page

Call me biased, but I feel that Gentoo, Arch and Slackware are the Linux Trinity.

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I would add Debian to that list, but then it wouldn't be a trinity.

i like arch.. but id have to put debian in instead of arch considering how much older and how much more popular it is.. seems gentoo, slackware, and debian cover all based.. gentoo taking care of those who like source installations, debian for something quicker and easier, first real package manager i liked, and slackware.. well its slackware, it was my favorite up until trying arch, but i havent used slackware in over 5 years, how has it improved?

the thing i didnt like about slackware was how the default installation gave me many different programs for the same task.. seemed kind of pointless to me, i like the freedom to pick the one program i like for that task and install it... like what i can do on arch

I always do a custom installation of Slackware, choosing only the packages I want. For instance, I don't want KDE, so I leave that out entirely. When there's Firefox, I have no use for Seamonkey, so I leave that out. Etc., etc.

Slackware, Arch, Gentoo, and Debian all allow for custom installations, so like I said, own it and make it your own. It's the Linux way.

More good ones:

http://www.funtoo.org/ (seems to be down at the moment)
http://crux.nu/

And maybe try a BSD?

http://www.pcbsd.org/
http://ghostbsd.org/

the issue with slackware though is if you do a custom install it seems to leave out a lot of the libraries you need to install a new program.. and no real way to automatically maintain dependencies.. it sometimes gets to be a pain in the rear

last slackware i used was 10.2 in 2005

You have to know what you are doing.

how much hard drive space does slackware 14 with all liberaries take up? another distro im considering is manjaro.. ive used arch a lot in the past, its just such a pain in the rear to install and set everything up

If it's been 5 years, then re-try some of the distros you already tried back them. All of the distros you mention in your 1st post (with the possible exception of Slackware) have undergone massive changes in the past 5 years, so they will likely seem completely new to you.

Here's a fun distro chooser quiz: http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/

thats probably true.. but, i dunno, i like a distro that only installs one of what i need, but lets me choose what that one is.. its why i liked arch and the ability to install to a command line and finish it up with the package manager.. mint aint too bad, less bloat than ubuntu, maybe their debian fork might be good.. and im going to consider manjaro as well

im going to try that quiz

Arch is a fantastic choice if those are your goals/values.
Most distros allow you to do a minimal/net install (where you start with a command line and then install the exact packages you want).
I don't really know what you mean by "bloat;" even full-featured distros (like Ubuntu or Slackware) fit on a single DVD and install to a few GB of hard drive space. Given that a 1TB hard drive costs less than $99 in 2013, the difference between Arch and a "bloated" distro is a few pennies...

ubuntu just seemed slower, heavier, with a lot of unnecessary crap to me.. ive been thinking of trying out the debian edition of mint though as well.. i think i might try debian testing.. thats the closest to a debian rolling release, isnt it? seems to take them years to upgrade the stable

No, Debian Testing isn't "rolling release;" it is the "beta" for the next Debian Stable. It's a great choice if you enjoy testing, documenting bugs, and reporting them back to Team Debian to make the next Stable release as reliable and bug-free as possible.

LMDE isn't really Debian Testing anyways. It is "based on" but then it takes a fork in the road.

If you are used to Ubuntu then you will probably find Debian Testing perfectly reliable for home/educational use. Debian is such a high-quality distro that even their Testing is more stable than many other distros' "stable" releases.