Category: Diamonds & Rust
Metallica’s “Orion”: A Love Letter To An Immaculate Song, And An Ode To An Impossible Album
Dear “Orion”, I have put off writing this letter for too long. But I feel compelled now to speak my heart to you, to express my love for you, and to praise you as the …
Happy Anneke-Versary: Mandylion Turns 25
Even during the humblest of beginnings, there are signs of emerging greatness. The Gathering’s beginnings were indeed quite humble. Founded by brothers Hans (drums) and René (guitars) Rutten along with vocalist buddy Bart Smits in …
Diamonds & Rust: Death Angel – Act III
[Artwork by Adrian Stubican] Finally hauling Death Angel into the Diamonds & Rust ring and electing to award sacred gem status to an album other than The Ultra-Violence somehow feels… Unseemly? Misguided? Crazier than a …
Diamonds & Rust: Screamer – Target: Earth
Way back when we started this Diamonds & Rust feature, the idea behind it was to allow our staff of obsessive listeners the opportunity to wax poetic about classic albums, to finally put onscreen some …
Diamonds & Rust: Sodom – Agent Orange
[Album artwork: Andreas Marschall] Gelsenkirchen, Germany, early 1980s: A young Thomas Such finds himself not particularly taken with the notion of spending a perfectly good life buried in the depths of the local coal mines. …
Diamonds & Rust: Coroner – No More Color
“Generally speaking, dazzling displays of technical prowess don’t impress me much,” says the intrepid Blog-Warrior, his fingers tap-tapping across the keys as he immediately contradicts himself in his rush to lavish heaps of praise upon …
Diamonds & Rust: Napalm Death ‒ Utopia Banished
For the better part of three decades, Napalm Death has been one of extreme music’s greatest examples of consistency and stability, with the only lineup change since the early 90s being the departure and death …
Diamonds & Rust: Ozzy Osbourne – Tribute
I don’t recall exactly when I first purchased Ozzy Osbourne’s Tribute, but I bought in on cassette, so that would mean early 90s. I wasn’t into metal when the album was first released in 1987, …