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 …
We’re winding down our week of albums that you might have missed so far, but we’ve still got some great music for you. Today’s five range from the extremely traditional to the outrageously avant-garde, so …
Y’all are down with Iron Bonehead by now, yes? No other label has been churning out the underground filth with as vicious a streak lately as these Handwerksmeisters of degradation. They’ve got a vigorous thumb …
We’re back with more picks from the first half of the year that we don’t want to see disappear into obscurity in the back half of the year. The Last Rites crew had picked out …
It’s half-way through the year, and we’ve all heard a lot of metal so far. We’ve seen releases by some big names—Mastodon, Behemoth, Mayhem—but sometimes smaller releases can get lost amidst the noise. That’s why …
Originally written by Jordan Campbell Thus far in 2014, I’ve enjoyed six albums. Six. Not total, mind you. I’m still mining the musical history of the Earth, finding not-so-hidden gems with damn near every brushaway of …
It’s halfway through the year, and summer has just begun. For many of us, summertime is prime heavy metal season. There’s something about cranking up the riffs when the sun is shining and meat is …
Originally written by Dean Brown. While most of the music you hear on a daily basis can be easily slotted into neat categories for descriptive purposes—and nine times out of ten it is done at …
Astute Last Riters may have noticed that New Zealand correspondent Craig Hayes has been relatively quiet of late, at least on these pages. Elsewhere, however, he’s been getting loud. Recently, he produced and presented an …
