Lotus Thief – Gramarye Review
The most important fact to dispense with here is that Gramarye is a beautiful album. No prefix, no qualification, no caveat: beautiful, full stop. Although two of Lotus Thief’s members also play in Botanist, the …
Neurosis – Fires Within Fires Review
Fires Within Fires feels like aging. Now, hold up. I’m not talking about the ages of the members involved, or at least not directly. Neurosis’s music, at least from Enemy of the Sun onward (and …
Stilla – Skuggflock Review
Skuggflock is the third album in four years from Sweden’s Stilla, and although its potential appeal is wide-ranging, it will be of particular interest to anyone already invested in the unique micro-niche carved out by …
Vanhelgd – Temple Of Phobos Review
The open question: Do Vanhelgd play fashionable death metal unfashionably, or unfashionable death metal fashionably? On the one hand, Vanhelgd’s melodicism and (in particular) the potently reverbed vocals sometimes suggest a kinship with such peripatetic …
Hammers Of Misfortune – Dead Revolution Review
To be an ardent fan of heavy metal in 2016 is a curious thing. By many metrics, there has never been a better time to follow this music, whether judged by the sheer volume of …
Forteresse – Thèmes Pour La Rébellion Review
Friends, if you’ve been reading our exploits here at Last Rites for a while, you know that we take things extremely seriously. We eat metal, breathe metal, sleep metal, shit metal, grimace metal, hug metal… …
First Fragment – Dasein Review
Given the untamable diversity of styles that the term conveys, there’s almost nothing one can say accurately about heavy metal as a whole that isn’t so generic as to be hopelessly vague. Nevertheless, here’s a …
Savage Master – With Whips And Chains Review
*Extremely quiet museum docent voice* “Well, ladies and gentlemen, it’s a little-known fact, but the band Savage Master took their name from the French ‘Ça Va-Je Mas Terre’, which is a supremely sophisticated name that …