Generally Impressed With Riffs
[Cover artwork by Douglas Leal] Listening to the new album from Brazil’s Deafkids, Cicatrizes Do Futuro, I’ve been thinking about rivers. [indignant voice from the back]: WHAT? Mea culpa, friend. I’m here today to preach the gospel of Under the …
[Album artwork by Harshanand Singh] The third album is in some ways a litmus test for a band’s longevity. Three albums is a sufficient sample size—you can generally tell where a band is headed, whether they’ll last, whether they speak …
[Pre]-historically speaking, the boys, Nocturno Culto and Fenriz, have always been influenced by the likes of Celtic Frost, Bathory, and all things ‘80s. In fact, they don’t shy away from the fact that it’s always been about that era. After …
[Cover art by Quinn Henderson] You’re familiar with the term, “unc,” right? If not, it generally refers to a washed up older feller whose personality in large part revolves around extravagantly performing confusion and/or displeasure at the mere notion of …
Затхлий запах смерті Приніс з собою вітер Лише холод і туга безкрая У небі роїться круків зграя Вся земля вагітна мерцями – svrm, “Земля вагітна мерцями” The musty smell of death Wind brought with him Only …
Borrowing the HM2 buzzsaw fuzz predominantly associated with Swedish death metal, these Belgians describe their style as “chainsaw grind.” Given the death/grind carving contained on Cursed To Walk This Earth, I suppose that’s as good …
If nothing else, Star One’s Revel in Time – like many, if not all of Arjen Lucassen’s artistic endeavors – is an event. That someone who commits himself only to music that appears to reflect …
[Artwork by Tom Roberts] Have you had the pleasure of meeting Eight Bells yet? If not, allow me the honor of a formal introduction. Eight Bells is a metal band that’s apparently not quite metal …
[Cover artwork by Adam Burke at Nightjar Illustration] France’s Deathbell broke convention and tossed the idea of a sophomore slump right on its ass. Where 2018’s debut, With the Beyond, was a fine reiteration of …
It is mere illusion and pretty sentiment to expect much from mankind if he forgets how to make war. And yet no means are known which call so much into action as a great war, …
Knowing nothing about R.A. Salvatore’s Icewind Dale trilogy, I am not the absolute, dead-on target demographic for Achelous’s The Icewind Chronicles. With song titles like “Mithril Hall” and “Halfling’s Gem,” the album has a fairly …
From the moment they started doing interviews for their 19th album Rock Believer, the Scorpions made a point of mentioning records like Lovedrive and Blackout, and of saying that they wanted to return to just …
