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 …
In spite of their unabashedly derivative nature, Brooklyn’s Throaat do something rather neat on their second EP, Black Speed—they offer a blueprint for standing out among the countless throwback acts. By reducing the run time …
Maybe the most interesting thing about the new Between the Buried and Me album is that it’s a concept album about a guy in a coma. Interesting not simply because it’s a guy in a …
Originally written by K. Scott Ross. A lot changes in eight years. That’s the maximum length of an American presidential regime, or half the life of a sixteen year old. It’s also the amount of …
Logic would dictate that the 1980s held a finite number of metal bands, but yet, about once a week, somebody digs up some other Band From Way Back When That You’ve Totally Got To Hear. …
Australia’s Destruktor has apparently been around since 1997, but to date the trio has managed only a handful of EPs and splits and one full-length album, which was released almost six years ago. I can’t …
It probably says something about me, but I find some comfort in the sound of filth – there’s magic in the audible grime that coats quality crust. Cross that with the power of extreme metal, …
Doom/death is a fickle thing. The interesting thing about the template laid out a quarter-century ago is that it was always a ramshackle synthesis. For all the gothic grandeur that the Peaceville 3 aspired to, …
The dog days of summer are here, and that’s usually reflected in a lighter than normal release schedule from record labels. August is going to be ANYTHING BUT with a slew of releases from major …
