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 …
Sinistro – Semente Review
Semente is the second full-length from Portugal’s Sinistro, but the first full-length with vocalist Patrícia Andrade as an official member of the band. (Sinistro and Andrade collaborated on a 2013 release before she joined.) Stylistically, …
Cult Of Luna And Julie Christmas – Mariner Review
The received wisdom is that post-metal is dead. Regardless of one’s affinity for the style, it shouldn’t be terribly controversial to note that we are now more than a decade past the most creatively fertile …