Generally Impressed With Riffs
[Cover art by Mars Triumph] Petrichor, the sixth full length album from Greece’s epic metal stalwarts Battlelore, commences with the sound of rain and an invitation to reflect. That word, “petrichor,” is a relatively new one (coined by scientists in …
To start, let’s acknowledge that you and I don’t really know each other. This means, among other things, that I can’t say what “war metal” means to you. To some extent, maybe you just throw your hands in the air …
Kia ora, compadres. Welcome to the latest edition of In Crust We Trust. Below you’ll find a bunch of ear-wrecking noise to help you process and/or drown out the 24/7 horror show currently occupying our screens. Wherever you are, and …
Cryptworm’s third LP, Infectious Pathological Waste, quite charmingly arrives at the perfect time for yours truly; the deeper, choppier musical waters I’ve been swimming in the past few weeks have made for an often rewarding but exhaustingly challenging adventure. Conversely, …
Welcome, all, to the thirstiest extreme metal album of 2024. Amsterdam’s Deathless Void straight up named their album The Voluptuous Fires of Sin, which I can only imagine is about the impure thoughts that went …
Howdy, dear readers. It’s time for our monthly review of the Last Rites staff’s listening habits—a little feature we call Staff Infections. Here’s hoping September finds you and yours in fine health and spirits, but …
Some things age gracefully, and get better with time. Wine… Cheese… Me… We can add Phoenix-based thrashers Flotsam & Jetsam to that list, especially now that they’re four albums into a third act that sees …
Wolfbrigade (formerly Wolfpack not to be associated with the atrociously hateful movement of the same name) just continue to pump out high-level d-beat hardcore punk rock that will get you angry, worked up, hot and …
Cover artwork by Eduardo Ver Papangu’s debut album, Holoceno, was a resounding success in 2021, even making that year’s Last Rites Combined Staff Top 25. Four longtime friends from João Pessoa, Brazil, had somehow found …
[Cover image by Keith Evans] 2004: For me, life and times were pretty much firing on all cylinders. I was entering my fifth year of living in the Bay Area; I had a wide net …
What do you do when a band masters a particular sound, moment in time, and vibe, but eventually abandons it for other styles? Do you seek out someone else doing it, even if you know …
[Cover artwork by Christopher Diaz] A gust of wind hurls a pocket of dirt into the boiling western air, and a tumbleweed scurries inches behind two boots planted firmly in the ground. The silhouette of …
