Generally Impressed With Riffs
[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 …
[Artwork by Caroline Harrison] “Nonsense” opens with a slow fade-in of distorted guitars and seismic drums — the chaos before the swarm. It’s a trick of the trade, the extreme metal equivalent of a camera operator calling out “speed” before …
In 2023, Texas metal quartet Krigsgrav released an album that resonated with me more than any that year, clinching the top spot on my AOTY list. A beautifully sinister cacophony of melodic black and doom …
For as long as I’ve been a fan of this wild, wonderful world of heavy metal, I can remember two discussions (that inevitably become two arguments), ones that never seem to get resolved. The first …
I bet you were expecting Albert Pecans or Old Man Socks, or whatever those idiots’ names are, but they’re not the only ones who listen to grind around here. Ten tracks in less than seven …
No need for prologue: the simplest way to describe Medieval Demon’s new album, All Powers of Darkness, is to say that it is “Greek black metal.” If that sounds like an insult, though… buddy, have …
Is it even possible, dear friends and readers, to feel bad or sad or glum or anything but radiantly giddy while listening to Helloween? For my money… no, it is not. Thus, new Helloween is …
To cut straight to the chase, Clairvoyance’s Chasm of Immurement is riff-heavy Polish death / doom—emphasis on death—and it rules. It is possible to be death / doom—emphasis on doom—and still rule, of course. But …
It is probably not interesting to you to know that each time I thought about starting this review, I wanted to start with the line “music is music” but my brain kept immediately jumping to …
[Cover artwork by the unrivaled Ed Repka] Truth be told, I have been battling my brain for quite some time over which Death album most explicitly warrants a Diamonds & Rust treatment here at Last …
