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 …
Though it might seem counterintuitive, there’s actually a bold calculus at work for a band digging in the blood-soaked trenches of a well-established style. Artistically speaking, the stakes are higher but the payoff is lower. …
originally written by Erik Highter You’d have to be some sort of cretin not to dig the Athenian band Planet of Zeus. On their two prior albums, the Greek band has shown that Clutch translates …
Originally written by Ian Chainey Some bands love their influences. Then, there are the bands that live their influences, that are wholly shaped by their influences. Brutally Deceased, a collective of Czech grinders and growlers …
H.R. Giger, famed creator of the Xenomorph, has passed away, reportedly from injuries sustained in a fall. Unlike most of the deaths we reflect on here at Last Rites, Giger was neither young nor a …
Over the course of their decade-plus existence, New Jersey’s Helcaraxë has tooled around with their death metal formula here and there, but the one thing that has stayed constant is the bombast. Plain and simple, …
And by “a man,” Harry means a group of men that call themselves Black Anvil. Hail Death, the band’s third full length, is a prime example of a band biting off way more than their …
Sometimes, things click at the most unexpected moments. I had been listening to the latest from High Spirits at least once daily for about a week as I geared up for this review. Though I …
Well, friends, this is it: The final stop on the Last Rites 80s’ metal train. Just thinking about the curtain dropping gets me a little misty-eyed. But as the great Napoleon Bonaparte once said, all …
