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 …
Originally written by K. Scott Ross. Heavy metal vocals are an odd beast, particularly when it comes to dirty vocal styles. A singer needs to balance between having aggression and comprehensibility, particularly if they actually …
“This shit makes Coffins sound crisp.” – Zach Duvall Such was my introduction to Undergang and the band’s latest album Døden Læger Alle Sår. And while I believe my colleague Mr. Duvall has made the …
Originally written by Chris Redar Ambassador Gun plays the kind of grindcore that opens shows for larger grindcore bands. Much like the time Sick/Tired opened for Nasum in Chicago, by the time Brutal Truth (the …
Originally written by Chris Redar Starting with 2009’s The Harvest Floor, San Diego’s Cattle Decapitation effectively jettisoned their loose, somewhat unlistenable brand of deathgrind in favor of a more streamlined and polished brutal death sound. …
For as much as the genre flaunts its supposed nihilism and negativity, at its best, black metal produces a sort of ecstatic trance in the listener. Thus, although the style is easy enough to muster …
The collapse of the record industry and the proliferation of inexpensive tools for independent recording and distribution have meant, in many ways, a liberation of artistic expression. On the whole, then, that’s a good thing: …
The psychedelic heavy rock revival out of SoCal may have some people sneering with the same kind of skepticism caused by other retro explosions (“occult rock,” the thrash revival, etc.), but hidden in the clubs …
I know that I shouldn’t, but as soon as I hear “one-man band,” I tend to assume that we’re talking about either suicidal blackened monotony or maybe some atmospheric acoustic-augmented snoozefest. Oh, it’s not black …
