Generally Impressed With Riffs
[Cover artwork by Michael Cloutier] Prog, of course, is known for technical musicianship and songwriting complexity above all else, a reputation well-earned by the early giants of the genre and happily maintained by their progeny ever since. It’s also true …
[Cover artwork by Timbul Cahyono] In the interest of full disclosure, I will admit that I’ve always found the concept of the split to be flawed. It works best when there’s a shared theme or the band’s involved cover each …
[Cover art by Mars Triumph] Petrichor, the sixth full length album from Greece’s epic metal stalwarts Battleroar, commences with the sound of rain and an invitation to reflect. That word, “petrichor,” is a relatively new one (coined by scientists in …
To start, let’s acknowledge that you and I don’t really know each other. This means, among other things, that I can’t say what “war metal” means to you. To some extent, maybe you just throw your hands in the air …
Disclaimer: This is not a DSBM album. For some odd reason, “depressive” black metal gets associated with a certain trope of mournful, angsty sadboys drooping around their candlelit bedrooms and gazing up softly at the …
Even during the humblest of beginnings, there are signs of emerging greatness. The Gathering’s beginnings were indeed quite humble. Founded by brothers Hans (drums) and René (guitars) Rutten along with vocalist buddy Bart Smits in …
Can death metal mature? Perhaps not like a fine wine but more like an angsty teenager who finally put down the Noxema and decided to work on their insides because that’s what is truly important …
Ten years ago, I reviewed Gorgatron’s Torturetorium album, and that was the last thing I’ve heard of theirs, which means that I apparently missed 2014’s Inner Supremacy entirely. My review wasn’t a brilliant piece of …
Contagion of Despair, the first full length from the UK’s Self Hypnosis, is a huge, sprawling album in more ways than one. Most obviously, it pushes 80 minutes in length, which would seem very long …
[Etching by the great Kathe Kollwitz] “COME RENDER THE SALAD UNTO CAESAR!” That is a quote from a great, noble man. Panzerfaust’s fifth full-length The Suns of Perdition – Chapter II: Render Unto Eden, a …
Oh, Great Warrior. Wars not make one great. -Yoda Anyone who’s seen The Empire Strikes Back at least once remembers this classic line — the sharp quip from the Jedi master to Luke when he frustratingly explains …
Welcome to another edition of Staff Infections, friends. Unfortunately, it’s still 2020, and 2020 is still piling on the bullshit. If an ongoing global pandemic wasn’t enough to deal with, there was a recent devastating …
