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 …
Mantar. MANTAR. It evokes a VO shout from a B-flick trailer. HE COMES IN THE NIGHT. MANTAR. Wearing a congratulatory smirk, you slide over and hit up “Spit” on the ol’ Bandcamp. Out of nowhere, the German …
Welcome to the halfway point, volume five in our list of The Most Essential Albums of the Eighties. Previous volumes can be accessed here. This week’s edition features a host of menacing characters. To start …
Protoplasm is pregnant for the second time, for y’all have knocked her up. ••••• COLOURED BALLS – BALL POWER (1973) Land: Australia Lifespan: 1972 – 1974 File Under: Sharpiecore, rat-tail rockin’ In Print?: Reissued …
Not too long ago, you couldn’t huck a rock without hitting a drifty, smoky, fuzzy doom band directly in the marbles. Slow-bangers with stretched tunes steeped in bongwater were getting continuous front-page action, and folks …
Welcome to Exhumed to Consume, the first of what may or may not be a recurring feature in which Last Rites staffers evaluate albums, classic or otherwise, that have recently been dug up, dusted off …
With countless young bands mining the bare-bones thrash, black, and death metal realms with little-to-no notoriety due to so much saturation (or a case of suck), it’s refreshing to hear a new group putting their …
Originally written by Chris Redar Well, kids, do you want the good news or the bad news? Let’s start with the good news: If you’re an existing fan of Benighted, they have a new album out …
Welcome to the fourth installment of The 100 Most Essential Albums of the 80s. If you need to catch up, you can do so here. This week’s edition is another testament to the diversity of …
