Generally Impressed With Riffs
[Album artwork by James Koehnline] As much as I love and appreciate the fact that my metal foundation was fortified by growing up alongside the genre in the ‘80s as a youth, I owe a great deal of my undying …
[Cover art by Fenomeno Design] Did you know that Chile is pretty darn good at death metal? If not, you must be new around these parts, in which case, I say, welcome friend! We’re glad to have you here and …
It’s a magical corner of the musical world where a band can combine an infectious nature with extreme oddness, and it’s in that corner that Idaho’s Seven Chains makes their home. Make no mistake about it, third album Swollen, In …
[Cover art by Claudio Elias Scialabba] Italy’s Into Darkness has been a band for approximately 15 years but is just now releasing its first full length album, Route to the Other Side, but all that time has been greatly beneficial …
I had only heard of — but not actually heard — Vampirska before listening to Vermilion Apparitions Frozen in Chimera Twilight. From the little I had read, I expected something more chaotic and orthodox than …
There are a handful of operative words when it comes to Father Befouled’s work over the last twelve years or so. “Filthy” is one, and “vile” another, and both in the best possible sense – …
Dear brothers and sisters, dear enemies and friends, here is a hard truth: nobody really gives a shit about your record collection. This is a particularly bitter pill for those of us who end up …
[Artwork by Lena Richter & Maldo Illustration] It must be strange to be a weird band facing curious obstacles in this bizarre world. Even stranger if you jump from the gate as an eccentric band …
Fast Rites: because sometimes brevity is fundamental. If you haven’t noticed, we’re some long-winded sumbitches round these parts. Fast Rites exists in part so we can challenge ourselves to shut the hell up a little …
Immersed in loss, Of something –Dissolution Despair is a powerful force. It has a gravity that when experienced acutely can be felt as though your insides are being inexplicably drawn through your feet towards some …
Of all the criticisms thrown at black metal, the lazy, tired “black metal has no riffs” argument is easily the most likely to jerk the eyeballs of anyone with any experience in the style involuntarily …
Welcome, friends, to the March 2022 edition of Staff infections, your monthly glimpse into the listening habits of your pals here at Last Rites. Last month I expressed my hope that Vladimir Putin’s threatened invasion …
