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 Ian Chainey With the rise of Bandcamp, Soundcloud, and, if a band must, ReverbNation, one would think the demo would go the way of the dodo. I mean, why even bother sullying …
So this band is named TOAD, eh? That’s right, TOAD. Technically their name is an acronym for “Take Over And Destroy,” but these Phoenixites could easily have gone the command-as-band-name route and stuck with that. …
We’re halfway through 2013, and you know what that means: There’s finally an excuse to make a list. Yes, you’re looking at yet another “Best of Half of 2013 So Far or Whatever” feature, but …
originally written by Juho Mikkonen As we all know, the line between gimmickry and unorthodox novelty is one of the finest there is within the domain of underground metal. Moreover, there are no set parameters …
Why is fantasy such a hard pill to swallow? Lord knows reality’s a rotten enough morass to make any sane person long for escapism, right? After all, it’s only mercenaries, cutthroats, and lunatics that thrive …
Let’s get the main thing out of the way right up front: Dirty is not a good album. In fact, it’s a pretty lousy album. But, okay, let’s give them that. Win some, lose some, …
Originally written by Chris Redar We’ve got a serious contender for the grind throne in Wake’s False. There’s no way to tell exactly what humankind did to piss these Calgary denizens off this much, but please, bipeds; …
Originally written by Matt Longo How many of you have heard/read music journalists complain about the influx of releases we receive? Everyone bitches about it at some point, because it really is bloody staggering. No …
