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 …
Originally written by Chris Redar I know it’s my job as a critic to be able to use an objective set of criteria to subjectively judge an album based on the audience said album will …
If you’ve been in the game for a pile of years and have frequented a number of different forums, blogs and even a heavy metal venue bathroom stall or two, you’re probably aware that our …
originally written by Juho Mikkonen For our final interview of this series, we invited Patrick Mameli of the almighty Pestilence to discuss a little bit about Consuming Impulse, a timeless death metal masterpiece that …
Our on-again-off-again Four to Score series typically features four reviews of albums we may have missed, each by a different member of the Last Rites staff. This time? All from yours truly, and all quick …
I don’t have to tell you how great Ronnie James Dio was, or at least I shouldn’t. His shocking and tragic passing in 2010 was a huge blow to the metal world. It had lost …
Having spent my fair share of time splashing around in the temperate waters of the heavy metal opinionarium, I’ve gotten the acute sense that plenty of fine folks are well and truly murked out. Sure, …
Greetings, time travelers. You all tuckered out from all this 80s’ metal nostalgia yet? Of course you are. We all are. Wait, no… I’m never tired of 80s’ metal. NEVER, I SAY. When others are …
originally written by Craig Hayes This is the final installment in a five-part series. In Mainstreaming Metal, LR scribe Craig Hayes looks back on his experiences as a beacon for underground heavy metal within the …
