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 …
Welcome to the first installment of what could end up being a continuing effort around the Last Rites camp. The general idea behind your typical “VS.” is obviously pretty self explanatory, but as far as …
The past several albums from Greek metal OGs Rotting Christ have seen a really fascinating bifurcated progression – on the one hand, the band has introduced a wide variety of new instruments, sounds, and musical …
Heavy metal’s highway is stacked ten miles deep with bumper-to-bumper EPs, demos and diversely-inched short-players. In an effort to help our readers navigate the traffic, we offer an ongoing editorial designed to shine a light …
Originally written by Rae Amitay Longing may be comprised of only half a dozen songs, but it’s over an hour of strangling melancholy that occasionally loosens its white-knuckled grasp just long enough for the listener …
It goes without saying that it really matters who you work with, but I’m going to say it anyway… Members of The Who and Led Zeppelin had embarrassing solo careers. Samoth and Trym’s work in …
Like any form of art that has been around for a decent period of time, there exist within heavy metal those making a strong evolutionary push forward, those who would uphold what they see as …
I am not sure what sure what inspired Chapel of Disease’s moniker, but when I saw the promo for the band’s album Summoning Black Gods in my email, I immediately thought of “Chapel of Ghouls”. Hoping …
If you’ve ever encountered Portal before, you know how you feel about Portal. This is not a band to inspire neutral reactions; either the band’s subterranean, synapse-gnawing churn gives you a tug in the ol’ …
