Generally Impressed With Riffs
[Cover art by Mister Curse] Stack Overflow In Corpse Pile Interface. Stack Overflow in…Corpse Pile Interface? “What’s in a name? That which we call a corpse pile, by any other word would smell as putrid” – billy shakes Forgive my …
[Cover art by Jef Whitehead] Cognizance’s In Light, No Shape serves as a useful reminder that when it comes to our musical preferences, our whats are subservient to our whys. If, for example, you are a fan of the early …
[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 …
We’re clearing the decks with looks at releases that languished in our inboxes over the “holiday” season. Record labels don’t completely shut down in December, but it’s very easy to overlook new albums when you’re …
Grave Digger is the veritable embodiment of consistency. Like Accept, like UDO, like Helloween, these Germans have carved themselves a kingdom from a seemingly endless wellspring of trad-metal inspiration, assembling and re-assembling the basics of power-trad …
I have been wrestling with Maze of Sothoth’s debut full length, Soul Demise for a few weeks. Not at all because I don’t know if I like it, but because I am not sure how …
In listening to yet another mostly mediocre new Sepultura, I find myself thinking two things: Thought Number One: I kinda feel bad for Derrick Green. His voice isn’t bad – he’s got a wider range …
Look, I get it: You don’t like to have fun anymore. No one does. Politics suck, the weather sucks, your rent/mortgage sucks, your job sucks, the universe sucks. Why, just the other day I saw …
When it comes to black metal, I wouldn’t call myself much of a fan. Though there are exceptions, of course, for the most part, I enjoy black metal musical tropes like I enjoy tomatoes: Sandwich …
2017. I can’t help but expect a shit show from the world, given 2016’s wonton flinging of excrement at any critically minded human being, but we are not here to belabor the obvious, politically. We …
Those unfamiliar with how a gig like this typically works might benefit from discovering that most of us make it to around the first of December before pulling the plug on basically everything in order …
