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 …
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 …
[Art by Michel “Away” Langevin] By all reliable accounts, Voivod’s last album, The Wake, was a resounding success. That record continued an upward trajectory begun with the addition of Daniel “Chewy” Mongrain on guitar in …
So, by now, you’ve probably noticed that, here at Last Rites, we like Voivod. I mean, we really like Voivod. Not in the creepy way, now – get your mind out of the dark place. …
