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 …
Many metal enthusiasts love debating Integrity and purity and how those words relate to the truest of the true “true metal” champions. Does this band honor the roots enough, does that band adhere to the …
To the attentive ear, it’s clear that Swedish melodeath masters Dark Tranquillity have been out of ideas for over a decade. After peaking with Damage Done, the band largely delivered a (wicked) clone in Character …
If Scotland is going to have an impact year in black metal it’s going to be due to the tireless efforts of Andy Marshall. Guardians represents his second solo release of 2016. Earlier this year …
Hero is the first full length album from Switzerland’s Bölzer, but unless you’ve avoided just about every blog of note over the past few years, and don’t spend one minute of your time on Heavy Metal …
A question that is not as off-topic as it likely seems: are nihilism and humanism necessarily incompatible philosophical doctrines? Should we continue to believe in reason and progress when presented with constant suffering and apparent …
Some bands wander by mistake. On their third album Mute Books, Canada’s Auroch have made an album that, while not exactly bad, is very much not an album I want to listen to. On its …
Void Meditation Cult, the solo project of Desolate Defiler, began back in 2009 as Sperm of Antichrist. To the delight of parents everywhere, the name was changed almost immediately. The only prior release is a …
You’d have to forgive Vancouver’s Anciients for falling slightly short of the mark with their 2013 LP, Heart of Oak. With only one — albeit excellent — EP under their belt and thriving on their high energy live …
