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 …
The greatest rock singer of all time. This is how I have often described Chris Cornell. Not that it is possible to prove such a thing, or that definitive rankings of rock voices matter, but …
Genres can work a number of different ways. They can be a crutch, allowing uninspired bands a relatively easy foothold with a niche demographic. They can be a challenge, prompting ambitious bands to claw impatiently …
In 2004, Denmark’s Pyramaze released an album called Melancholy Beast, and it was good. Actually, it was more than good, it was great – the sort of fantastical, sometimes ridiculous, always melodious power metal record …
John Frum sounds like a guy who will sell you insurance you can’t afford. Or a guy who will wash your car. Or cut your grass. Or steal your girlfriend. It does not sound like …
Welcome, gentle readers, to a special Mother’s Day edition of Staff Infections. I have to admit tying a Mother’s Day theme into a piece on a heavy metal site is a bit beyond my capability. …
If there’s two things I know about Spain, it’s that the rain there falls mainly on the plain, and that Spanish death metal bands have a great way with that thick, oozing, rotten sound, and …
Originally written by Chris Redar Ah, Drug Honkey– two of my least favorite things, combining to play my least favorite musical style. Stoner sludge and bad names seem to go together like the volume on …
Many moons ago, a friend of mine convinced me to give a strange blend of juice from an eclectic little grocery store in a weird little neighborhood near my work a month-long try for supposed …
