Véritable Acier De France: A French Heavy Metal Primer (1980-1985)
Heavy metal is a worldwide phenomenon. While its godfathers in Black Sabbath and fathers in Judas Priest were playing the style years before the dawn of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, this era …
Infernal Conjuration – Infernale Metallum Mortis Review
Somewhere outside the typical terrestrial realms of metal, there exists a plane only a handful of bands have the gall to even approach. Musically, it falls right on the throughline between the explosion of metal …
Nucleus – Entity Review
Trends. Often scoffed at, particularly in the circles of extreme music—which, some might argue, are vehemently against this to begin with—trends have a way of naturally occurring. There’s no escaping them, particularly in a time …
Paladin – Ascension Review
Fuck Paladin. If there are two areas of metal I have little patience for its power metal and melodic death metal. Not that I don’t find plenty to appreciate in both, but I don’t really …
Diamonds & Rust: Raven – Life’s A Bitch
In “Diamonds & Rust,” Last Rites looks back at classic albums from metal’s storied history. Some of these albums were big hits, and others are overlooked gems. All of them deserve your time and attention… …
Hellripper – Black Arts & Alchemy Review
If Hellripper doesn’t slow down, their discography page is going to be rivaling that of the satanic thrash speedy boys in Abigail in just a few short years. But Hellripper never slows down. The brainchild …
Mors Vincit Omnia: A Spotlight On Sentient Ruin Laboratories, Part 2
“Dear Friends…” Or so begin the always welcome mailing list updates from Sentient Ruin Laboratories with news on upcoming releases, sales, and the usual kind of information one would expect from an independent record label. …
Mors Vincit Omnia: A Spotlight On Sentient Ruin Laboratories, Part 1 — The Interview
It’s not a secret that the role of a record label has changed drastically in the age of the internet. Nowhere is this more true than in the underground, where endeavors are driven by genuine …