Generally Impressed With Riffs
[Cover artwork by Old Hag] When I initially realized that Arckanum’s first album after a long hiatus—and, technically, its breakup—would be released on All Hallows’ Eve, I devised this rather cutesy and far-fetched idea to compare the entire album to …
[Album artwork / art direction by Joseph Niet / The Creative Corporation] Offering up a textbook definition of “holy crap, time flies,” Black Sabbath’s swan song, 13, was released 13 years ago, on June 7th, 2013. In a curious move, …
If you’re just now catching up, well, we’re just now catching up. Seth Buttnam and I (plus one uninvited guest) are rounding up some of our favoritest grindcore (or grind-adjacent) releases of the past however many months, since we (read: …
[Album artwork by Truls Espedal] It’s 17 albums for Enslaved now, comprising a discography I find exceptionally challenging to wrap my arms around. What’s going on here? Does anyone else forget that the relatively rote and by-the-numbers Frost is actually …
“Album Of The Day” is a new Last Rites Facebook feature we started recently whose purpose is quite straight-forward: highlight one album per day and say a few words about it. Understanding that not everyone …
Are the placid waters of a large lake best disrupted by a deluge, or by singular drops upon its surface? Sit near any calm body of water as dark clouds approach, and you’ll probably experience …
For reasons both unknown and likely unknowable, I am a complete mark for the sort of mathematical and musical formalism with which Monolithe has constructed Nebula Septem. For this seventh album, the seven musicians of …
I didn’t get the hype surrounding The Sword when they released Age of Winters. In fact, I largely tried to ignore it. The flood of similar bands during that time had soured me on their …
Like a majestic dolphin breaching the icy ceiling of the ocean, leaping high into the air as it fills its lungs with oxygen before returning to the darkness of the deep sea, Horn returns with …
None of Killjoy’s various projects was destined to make him a household name, not in thirty years, but his importance to death metal belies his notoriety. He wasn’t universally well-known for the gory death metal …
Two facts are indisputable: Primordial is a Very Good Band, and Exile Amongst the Ruins is a Very Bad Album. Maybe those facts seem difficult or painful to reconcile, but let’s face it: great bands …
We love Judas Priest. This is blatantly obvious, of course, as we’re winding down Priest Week here at Last Rites. But it bears repeating ad nauseam: We. Love. Judas. Priest. Guess who else loves Judas …
