Generally Impressed With Riffs
[Album artwork by Harshanand Singh] The third album is in some ways a litmus test for a band’s longevity. Three albums is a sufficient sample size—you can generally tell where a band is headed, whether they’ll last, whether they speak …
[Pre]-historically speaking, the boys, Nocturno Culto and Fenriz, have always been influenced by the likes of Celtic Frost, Bathory, and all things ‘80s. In fact, they don’t shy away from the fact that it’s always been about that era. After …
[Cover art by Quinn Henderson] You’re familiar with the term, “unc,” right? If not, it generally refers to a washed up older feller whose personality in large part revolves around extravagantly performing confusion and/or displeasure at the mere notion of …
[Artwork by Caroline Harrison] “Nonsense” opens with a slow fade-in of distorted guitars and seismic drums — the chaos before the swarm. It’s a trick of the trade, the extreme metal equivalent of a camera operator calling out “speed” before …
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 …
A Time To Be Laid To Rest The late 90s into the early 00s was a rather peculiar time in the realm of heavy music. The likes of Korn, Limp Bizkit, and Linkin Park were …
[Cover art by Helena Haglund and Simen Sandbæk Skari] What is a wheel? The dictionary definition, probably penned by the Pol Pot of dictionaries, would claim that it is: “a circular object that revolves on …
Folk metal appears to be going through a pariah phase these days. Of course, genre popularity ebbs and flows with the tide of public opinion, but this once-booming scene of the mid-aughts has fallen on …
Unfortunately, I’ve yet to have the privilege of visiting Canada. However, once I trek across the border, I expect to be bombarded with friendliness and hockey and drenched in maple syrup. Look, I dig Canada. …
