Generally Impressed With Riffs
[Artwork by Santiago Francisco Jarramillo] Drummer Trynt Kelly’s feet are flying. That’s one point of interest on Devouring Darkness, Unmerciful’s fourth full-length, and that point is like an industrial sewing machine needle turbo-embroidering your ear canal. Take “Infernal Conquering.” While …
There’s a short story by the English author P.G. Wodehouse called “The Purity of the Turf” that I think about a lot. Well, to be honest, it’s mostly the title of the story that frequently ricochets around my brain. Although …
Who knew the end times could be so much fun? Well… not these times. Not that we’re literally living out the end of days; although, what better sign of the times than the plausibility that such a statement could be …
It might be hard to believe at this point, considering the band’s gargantuan stature in the music industry, but Meshuggah had rather humble beginnings. Take their 1989 self-titled debut EP, for example. It had much more in common with …And …
There’s an old Cherokee proverb my grandma used to paraphrase: Inside each of us, there are two wolves. One is evil, representing anger, envy, greed, arrogance, resentment, lies, and ego. The other is good, representing …
[Cover artwork by Loni Gillum of Minerva’s Menagerie and RWAKE] There are lyrics in “The Return of Magik,” the title track of Rwake’s sixth album and first in almost 14 years, with variable payloads. Two …
[Cover artwork by Jared Fleming] “One of the great things about New York is that if you ever need dead baby eels, you can get them here. Also, there is opera.” – Dave Barry Full …
When was the last time you felt powerful? I’m not talking about anything grandiose or world-historical; think of a time you opened the pickle jar on the first try, or a time when you did …
Absolutes are dangerous. The rhetorical logic of “all or nothing” is a violent assault on the beautiful heterogeneity of the world. Taking any position to its extreme endpoint risks gross oversimplification and infantilizing generalization. That …
Welcome, dear friends, to another edition of Staff Infections, wherein the staff here at Last Rites share what they’ve been listening to for the past month. Everything is still terrible here in the U.S.A., so …
[cover artwork by Adam Vick of Dark Meditation] Everyone you know and love is a shambling whole comprised of smaller and smaller parts. You can drill down through the cutaneous, into the tissue, within the …
“Way back in 2022” feels like about a million years ago, doesn’t it? We live in strange times, my friends, when time itself is strange… Back then, Belgian grinders Days Of Desolation released a record …
