Generally Impressed With Riffs
It’s a magical corner of the musical world where a band can combine an infectious nature with extreme oddness, and it’s in that corner that Idaho’s Seven Chains makes their home. Make no mistake about it, third album Swollen, In …
[Cover art by Claudio Elias Scialabba] Italy’s Into Darkness has been a band for approximately 15 years but is just now releasing its first full length album, Route to the Other Side, but all that time has been greatly beneficial …
[Cover art by David Preissel] The sounds of Neurosis’ “Locust Star” emanate from a desktop speaker wired to an iPod Nano via ⅛-inch cable “Hey maaaan … is that Ponderous Post Metal?” “Yeah maaan …” “Well turn it up MAAAN!!” …
[Artwork by Vicky “Liddo” Morales] In a soak-your-underwear sweaty, tetanus-to-the-touch warehouse in the middle of Skid Row, Raw Addict played its first show. Weeks earlier, drummer Isaac made the irresistible sales pitch, stating that the multinational band connecting grind lifers …
Somewhere around the 2:30 mark of “Blood,” the second track on Fuath debut I, time stops. The song completely opens up around a gorgeous tremolo melody while the drums do that perfect hi-hat heartbeat so …
Sometimes I want metal to transport me to mystical realms, or plumb the depths of darkness in my soul, or even to challenge my very concept of what constitutes music. Other times (most of the …
This is, I swear, a review of the new album from Avantasia. It just… well, sometimes it takes a minute to get to where you end up wanting to go. Bands like Avantasia seem to …
The title Rulebreaker is certainly an ironic one – Primal Fear is about as by-the-book as they come. If you chainsawed up a dozen European trad metal bands – and who among us hasn’t thought …
Your enjoyment of an album likeThe Bloodwine of Satan, the debut album by Canada’s Hostium, depends entirely on how much “type metal” you have or want in your life. Type metal is easy to spot, though …
I’ve always thought Agoraphobic Nosebleed and KISS™ were eerily similar. Actually, that’s not at all true. I’ve never once thought that. Well, not until now. In KISS™ fashion, ANb’s 2016 release schedule includes a solo …
Funny how the brain works. I had been put off this band for at least a while due to the name being immediately associated with legendary asshole Varg Vikernes; it had to be a side …
