Generally Impressed With Riffs
[Album artwork by Maciej Kamuda] I’ve always been fascinated by Japanese culture, but more importantly, I admire its people. That fascination has persisted throughout my life, stemming from childhood when I was just captivated by the beauty and courage of …
It’s been a minute since I’ve committed any significant amount of time to listening to doom. Any doom, really. From anywhere. Of any type. And not because there hasn’t been great doom the past few years. Rather, my attention has …
[Cover Art by Daniel Karlsson] Februus is a one-man project driven by the prodigious and still developing talents of Sweden’s Andreas Karlsson. His latest, Construction of Conflict, delivers 40 minutes of guitar-centric death metal that, despite being packed to the …
There’s much more than this plane of existence. Are you willing to listen? A few years ago, one of the more obscure bands on my year-end list happened to be Germany’s Ch’ahom and their debut full-length LP Knots of Abhorrence. …
Surprises are relatively rare in this age of hyper-publicity. Yet every once in a while something like Azaab’s Summoning the Cataclysm falls from the sky to clock you in the noggin before landing at your …
Get your antibiotics ready, friends, it’s time for Staff Infections. Staff Infections, if you didn’t know, is our monthly examination of the Last Rites staff’s listening habits. Typically I also spend a little time discussing …
[Cover art by Lordigan] To listen to and fully enjoy Analepsy requires a state of mind matching the above. The band’s wares are most effective when you’ve turned off your brain and you can be …
[Artwork: João de Sá from a 16th century anonymous Flemish painting, The King’s Fountain] With Heltekvad, Ole Pedersen Luk of Afsky sacrifices little aggression in adopting a medieval theme. And though I am still not …
I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been listening to Agathocles and thought, “Goddamn, this raw-as-shit rudimentary grinding mayhem is awesome, but I wish it had more neoclassical sweep-picking.” And then I’d have another …
Boy, I sure am a big ol’ dummy. (How’s that for a lede, eh? “I sure am stupid. Now be sure to read on and totally trust my expert opinion!” But seriously, do that…) Why …
When it comes to commonplace tropes in storytelling, the line between a blessing and a curse can get thorny pretty quick. If you’re a fan of the fantasy genre, for example, you are at risk …
In the six years since Meshuggah released The Violent Sleep of Reason, a couple things have become clear about that album: it was their weakest effort since debut Contradictions Collapse, but was more than strong …
