Generally Impressed With Riffs
[Cover artwork: Nightmare in Red, by the incomparable Michael Whelan] It’s a wild and wonderful world that accommodates a single band that not only finds great success playing contrasting styles of heavy music, they do so after being directly responsible …
Some days you want some bloodsoaked goregrind grossness. Some days you want some rifftastic death / grind mash-up. Some days call for simpler measures: Some days you just want to smash things, or people, or an entire society. And for …
Greetings, Travl’r. The wake of the estival solstice has daylight enacting its measured retreat: Darkness marches forward, and once more the tides in the eternal war of time have begun to shift in the favour of its binding spell. It …
Ah, we’ve come to lucky number 13 for this little column I decided to do on the spur of a half-blitzed moment, and to celebrate, Blast Rites is taking on the latest from a personal favorite. Historically hyper-prolific, Suffering Mind …
When you get into middle age, some combination of social convention (“you’re too old for this”) or real-world responsibilities (kids, job, life) or simple physical limitation (it just fuckin’ hurts) will usually tell you that …
Because Fellowship’s self-titled EP struck such a chord for many, The Saberlight Chronicles’ arrival feels a long time coming. There was something strikingly earnest and unapologetically spirited and fun about “The Hours of Wintertime,” “Hearts …
In the pantheon of Teutonic thrash, Protector occupies a somewhat interesting place. On one hand, they’re a truly oft-unsung and overlooked outfit, rarely if ever mentioned alongside the Holy Trinity of that particular scene, or …
Here’s an undeniably sexy way to start a review of some heavy metal music: sometimes what ends up shaping one’s impression of a piece of music is dictated much more by the frame of reference …
[Artwork by Aesop Dekker, Eric Radey, and Ross Sewage] If you’re one of those people who still enjoys reading think pieces concerning old records, chances are pretty good a meaningful level of music nerdery is …
In music (and all art), there’s generally a distinction between things that are blatantly, intentionally strange or just end up that way because the people making it are weirdos. Even just within the “avant-garde” tag, …
In Tiktaalika, Haken guitarist Charlie Griffiths has deftly weaved together near equal amounts progressive, thrash, and extreme metal to craft a charming, quirky, and pretty darn delightful debut album. I’d forgive you for thinking that …
Lyrics? Who needs ‘em. Drums other than a kick and snare? Who needs ‘em. Subtlety or melody? Who needs ‘em. This is Deterioration, baby. And this is how to grind. After three EPs, two splits, …
