Generally Impressed With Riffs
[Cover artwork by Old Hag] When I initially realized that Arckanum’s first album after a long hiatus—and, technically, its breakup—would be released on All Hallows’ Eve, I devised this rather cutesy and far-fetched idea to compare the entire album to …
[Album artwork / art direction by Joseph Niet / The Creative Corporation] Offering up a textbook definition of “holy crap, time flies,” Black Sabbath’s swan song, 13, was released 13 years ago, on June 7th, 2013. In a curious move, …
If you’re just now catching up, well, we’re just now catching up. Seth Buttnam and I (plus one uninvited guest) are rounding up some of our favoritest grindcore (or grind-adjacent) releases of the past however many months, since we (read: …
[Album artwork by Truls Espedal] It’s 17 albums for Enslaved now, comprising a discography I find exceptionally challenging to wrap my arms around. What’s going on here? Does anyone else forget that the relatively rote and by-the-numbers Frost is actually …
Fear Factory. Goddamn Fear Factory. Goddamn, Fear Factory. That’s the abridged, edited, and expurgated version of the thoughts that went through my mind while listening to Genexus. With a history that includes as many steps …
Like Lychgate, the last band that your’s truly reviewed here at LR, Scythian calls London home. A bit of research reveals that the two are separated by only a couple band member degrees. Scythian bassist/vocalist S. …
Krisiun is almost universally described as “consistent.” And for good reason: These Brazilian brothers have been cranking out variations on a death metal theme for a quarter century now. They don’t vary their attack much, …
One of the most important keys to good doom – and minimal music of all types – is efficiency. It isn’t efficient with time, obviously, as doom is the metal most known for its drawn-out …
Once upon a time, black metal was hailed as our genre’s most maligned branch. It was the early 90s: Much of the death metal scene was noticeably concerned with technical ability and marketableness, because, unlike …
London’s Lychgate burst onto the black metal landscape in 2013 with their self-titled debut. It was a wild and fully-realized platter of dissonant weirdness that loved its keyboards and organs, but never to the extent …
Despite the British / Canadian spelling of their name, In Defence originates from Minneapolis, Minnesota. They’re a party thrash / crossover band formed in the mid-2000s, with goofy song titles and an outspoken love of …
I’ve got to hand it to Lamb of God. Even after all of the shit vocalist Randy Blythe went through with the Czech government, they’ve managed to stay on their recent “every three years” album …
