Generally Impressed With Riffs
[Cover art by Quinn Henderson] You’re familiar with the term, “unc,” right? If not, it generally refers to a washed up older feller whose personality in large part revolves around extravagantly performing confusion and/or displeasure at the mere notion of …
[Artwork by Caroline Harrison] “Nonsense” opens with a slow fade-in of distorted guitars and seismic drums — the chaos before the swarm. It’s a trick of the trade, the extreme metal equivalent of a camera operator calling out “speed” before …
[Cover artwork by Luca “Zeero” Zironi] There was always something uniquely charming about Konquest’s brand of traditional heavy metal—an almost whimsical breeziness that still felt like a near perfect balance of playful and substantive. A long-lost Italian cousin to Sweden’s …
[Cover art by Beyond Art] There are bad musical moods, and then there’s Mylingar. Over the course of the last decade this group of anonymous Swedes has concocted the type of ill-meaning black/death that makes Diocletian seem like a Care …
Originally written by Matt Longo I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a Bob Dylan fan, but I’ve listened to a fair cross-section of his career. Portions have been steeped in mystery and controversy, and while I …
Originally written by Ian Chainey Though many hate to admit it, punk has always been pop’s remora. When mainstream tastemakers turn sour, more often than not, punk will devour the leftovers, digest the remains, and …
Experimentation is a double-edged sword – on the one hand, it’s a trait most often praised by critics, if not always loved by fans, and its converse, static repetition, is as sometimes decried by both …
Dream Death was one of those bands that didn’t fit neatly into any particular metal scene or sub-genre. Even in the less rigidly subdivided metal landscape of the late 1980s, Dream Death was a square …
The Joutsen-fronted era of Amorphis is certainly consistent, even if these Finns haven’t released anything that truly captures the groundbreaking and game-changing magic of Elegy since… well, Elegy. After swapping Pasi for Tomi some eight …
Originally written by Rae Amitay One Of Us Is The Killer is a commendable continuation of the experimentation from Irony is a Dead Scene turned into a full-length, an improvement upon Option Paralysis, and rife …
2006’s Warball and 2011’s Razorback Killers, the last two Vicious Rumors records, were confident and strong efforts. Both showed that this long-running Californian power metal act had finally managed to push through their mid-90s shift …
Originally written by Chris Redar Is there anything better than a pleasant surprise? One time whilst cleaning my vehicle I found a winning scratch-off ticket for 20 bucks that I had completely forgotten existed. The …
