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 Dean Brown. It has been established by the likes of 5ive, Death From Above 1979, Jucifer, and the almighty Darkthrone that there’s no novelty to be found in heavy bands comprised of two musicians. Indeed, it’s probably …
Our journey through the golden age of metal continues with another set of ten classics. If you missed the first installment of The Most Essential Albums of the 80s, check it out here. Goats were …
Originally written by Ian Chainey We All Die (Laughing) – henceforth referred to as WADL, because…yeah – is a two-man collaboration between vocal chameleon Arnaud Strobl (Carnival of Coal) and multi-instrument genius Déhà (loads, like …
Ditching the rule book is a good way to start, but make sure that you aren’t just swapping it for a different set of parameters. If your band makes a very musical point of declaring …
Originally written by Ian Chainey Prostitute Disfigurement is a recently-resurrected brutal death metal band releasing its fifth album, From Crotch to Crown, on Willowtip. And, really, that’s enough data to formulate your best guess regarding …
The riff, man. The RIFF. Ever since Iommi first laid that heavy slab of Sacramental bread onto our collective tongues, we have all been SAVED – Hallelujah. And surviving all these years later as a …
I’ve read a few reviews in the last several years – and I’ve written one of them – stating that Italy’s Cripple Bastards has quietly been creeping up to become one of grindcore’s leading lights. …
