Generally Impressed With Riffs
[Cover art by Adam Yates] Look, I’ll freely admit that I listen to and love some truly pretentious death metal. Hell, I ranked Ingurgitating Oblivion’s last album as my seventh favorite in 2024, and that album has its head so …
[Cover Art by Kristian Valbo] I love the story behind the music. Not that it has to be some dramatic, sensational, or lurid tale. Rather, I just really appreciate how a little window into the artistic process can color one’s …
[Cover artwork by Rotting Reign] Having slept on the first few releases from Australia’s Snorlax, I approached Toxic Current—the Aussie one-man blackened death metal band’s third full-length—with fresh ears. I won’t bore you with any references to a certain anime …
[Cover art by Paolo Girardi] There are currently nine bands named “Ripper” listed on ye olde Metal-Archives, but it’s tough to imagine any of them earning the moniker as well as the boys from Chile featured here. And no, it …
[Cover art by Caelan Stokkermans] “Change–and everything is change; nothing can be held on to–to the degree that you go with a stream, you see, you are are still, you are flowing with it. But …
[Album artwork by Adam Hill] It’s kind of amazing how Elder has maintained their identity over the course of nearly 20 years and seven albums (plus EPs, a collaboration, and live albums), because, when you …
[Cover art by Matt Stephens – sole full-time member of the band] If you’re reading this, there’s a very good chance that you are a music obsessive. More than likely, that means you consume other …
[Cover artwork by Daryl Kahan] If you, like many of us here at Last Rites, are an ancient, or at least ancient-adjacent, then perhaps you’ve been listening to death metal for quite some time. For …
[Cover artwork by Douglas Leal] Listening to the new album from Brazil’s Deafkids, Cicatrizes Do Futuro, I’ve been thinking about rivers. [indignant voice from the back]: WHAT? Mea culpa, friend. I’m here today to preach …
[Album artwork by Harshanand Singh] The third album is in some ways a litmus test for a band’s longevity. Three albums is a sufficient sample size—you can generally tell where a band is headed, whether …
Howdy, friends. May is upon us, and although almost everything is still terrible, at least it’s getting a little warmer. In no time, I’ll be bitching about the heat. But at the time of this …
[Pre]-historically speaking, the boys, Nocturno Culto and Fenriz, have always been influenced by the likes of Celtic Frost, Bathory, and all things ‘80s. In fact, they don’t shy away from the fact that it’s always …
