Fughu – Lost Connection Review
When I reviewed Fughu’s debut album in 2009, I said of it, “On nearly every count, it can be said that Absence channels Dream Theater’s most famous (and, arguably, best) work, Images & Words.” Looking …
Psychotic Waltz – The God-Shaped Void Review
Through 10 years of frustrating underexposure and relative obscurity, Psychotic Waltz never compromised their vision. Even in the comparatively wide open world of heavy metal, they broke boundaries and defied expectation, creating music that was …
Just At The Edge Of The Light: A Psychotic Waltz Primer
Every passionate music fan has a litmus test band or artist, the one that, when mentioned, signifies the speaker’s legitimate expertise in that area. For a lot of progressive metal devotees that band is Psychotic …
Leprous – Pitfalls Review
Leprous’ sixth studio album, Pitfalls, gives it all away in its first song’s opening lines: All of my stories are below Beneath the surface you cannot grow Curled and naked, I defer to shaky thoughts …
Tanith – In Another Time Review
Nostalgia is probably overrated, at least the most common notion of it, the poignant sense that what was is somehow inherently better than what is. It’s a lie of which we are well aware, if …
(The Return Of) The Proglodyte’s Bonepile: Devin Townsend, Dream Theater, Queensrÿche And More
If you ask anybody who’s been reading Last Rites reviews and features for a while (maybe even back to the Metal Review days), it’s pretty obvious what constitutes our humble site’s wheelhouse: Traditional Heavy Metal, …
Rhapsody Of Fire – The Eighth Mountain Review
You don’t have to be a D&D dork to love symphonic power metal. There’s nothing that says that, in order to enjoy Rhapsody of Fire, you have to have memorized a monster manual or enjoyed …
Lord Divine – Facing Chaos Review
I don’t pretend to be any kind of expert on show business, heavy metal or otherwise, at any level, especially whatever level it is that somehow marks the transition from ordinary to significant. But (and …