Generally Impressed With Riffs
[Cover art by Per Spjøtvold] Want a fun way to acknowledge your own mortality? Think about how many years you’ve been listening to certain bands or albums. Of course, you, a distinguished devotee of this publication, surely engage in this practice, …
To put it mildly, I’ve been a bit sidetracked this year, so I apologize to all zero of my readers for not keeping them informed on the state of grindcore as I see it. Thankfully, I have some conscientious compatriots …
[Cover Artwork by Julia Proszowska] Something about the internet that only occurred to me recently is that it’s changed the way we think about death. Like just about everything else, the very notion of death has lost so much of …
[Cover artwork by The Blacksmith] I will freely admit that anonymity when it comes to art largely puzzles me, particularly as it relates to music. Aliased with some sort of elaborate costume? There’s potential there; who doesn’t love a little …
Everything old is new again. Case in point: I’m pretty sure I’ve used that opening line about five times over the past fifteen years. Second case in point: this sophomore full-length from Finland’s Galvanizer. This …
[Cover art by Mark Riddick] Supergroups are certainly a common occurrence in the world of music. Granted, the term is often bandied about more generously than it should be. Just because two members of a …
The first sound heard on The Ancient Spells Of The Past is the switching on and casual strumming of an electric guitar. It may seem a small, humble beginning, however, anyone who’s heard Nattens Madrigal knows …
Friend, I don’t know how your brain works. For me, the most unsupported, errant thought will sometimes get stuck up in there like Phineas Gage at a magnetic cocaine party. A lyric reminds you of …
Heavy metal and gimmickry have had a complicated relationship since the very day the genre first crawled from the primordial soup. When the strategy has worked, the results have been remarkable: KISS, Mercyful Fate / …
New York’s Tombstoner delivers crushing death metal and pummeling breakdowns in near equal measure. It’s not an unfamiliar combination, but one that requires careful execution. And execute it Tombstoner does with Victims of Vile Torture, …
Have you ever been glad that a release was only 15 minutes long? Not because it was bad, but simply because it was so damn heavy that to experience even a minute more was to …
Even in a year as loaded with great goregrind as 2020, the debut demo from Copenhagen’s Septage really stood out. Septic Decadence was four tunes in just under 12 minutes, loaded with blasts and tremolo …
