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 …
Originally written by Chris Redar Logic of Denial plays really, really fast brutal technical death metal in the vein of AngelCorpse and Hate Eternal, though not in any memorable fashion. In fact, Aftermath is about …
Originally released on Nightmare Records back in January, Decennium proved itself worthy enough to score a re-release just a few short months later, now on power-metal “major” Napalm. In their ten-year career (hence this latest …
On paper, Lock Up looks like a killer band. And it should be, in whichever of its four incarnations (so far) that you choose. It should add up to a sum greater than its parts, …
The greatest virtue of Sweden’s Jordablod is that they sound like a band. “But wait,” you say, “aren’t the vast majority of the albums reviewed on this site created by bands?” Well yes, but sometimes …
Reviewers are writers, by and large. I mean writers in “The Thing We Want To Do” sense. Obviously reviews take some writing. Writers are rarely content to give you only what you need. We want …
It’s been an embarrassment of riches when it comes to death metal so far in 2017, and with Thronosis, Excommunion makes it even more embarrassing. This Colorado-based duo, featuring bassist/vocalist Christbutcher, also of Cryptborn and …
I’ve always been an anachronism. I was born in 1977, and thanks to some older cousins, I got into metal in the dying days of the 1980s, mostly through records and bands already well established …
Reality shows have a special hold on America. The entertainment channels are chock-full of people crying, screaming, fighting, being overly drunk and just plain embarrassing themselves for the benefit of the viewer. And is the …
