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 …
Until last year, Bone Gnawer was most notable as a collaboration between vocalist Kam Lee (ex-Denial Fiend, ex-Massacre, ex-Mantas) and guitarist Rogga Johansson. But Johansson departed in 2014 – presumably to form another seven bands, …
The seed is a simple, descending tremolo line, a riff repeated in slightly different ways over the course of a phrase, but arriving at the same destination each time. It is featured in an obvious …
Originally written by Chris Redar Chicago’s Immortal Bird wasted very little time crafting a full length after their late 2013 EP Akrasia took a swing and a miss at most critics’ EOY lists. Here’s a …
Allegedly, Graveyard Shifters’ 2014 EP Brainwashed By Moonshine was paid for with the money earned from recycling the empty alcohol bottles that littered their rehearsal space. I have a few doubts as to the veracity …
I’ll admit I approached High on Fire’s latest, Luminiferous with some trepidation. The band’s last record, De Vermis Mysteriis, was the first High on Fire album that I did not thoroughly enjoy. To my ears …
If you’re going with that atrocious mustard-and-pastels eyesore of an album cover, you damn well better back it up with some kick-ass sounds… Recorded with notorious noise-rock curmudgeon Steve Albini, Success is the sixth full-length …
Originally written by K. Scott Ross. Isn’t it strange how sometimes music seems custom made for our tastes, and yet we don’t enjoy it? Such it was with Swedish retro-death turned progressive gothers Tribulation. Their 2009 …
In 1995, I graduated high school. I kept in touch with a few of my classmates, but for the most part never saw or spoke to most of them after that. In 2005, they held …
