Generally Impressed With Riffs
[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 they’ll last, whether they speak …
[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 been about that era. After …
[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 …
In 2022, Victims released a short, perfunctory statement: “THIS IS END – WE ARE DEAD.” And to put it in rather unpoetically, well… that pretty much sucked, because for the 25 years leading up to …
Cover art by William Hay To the great wonder of people who know me, I’ve never been beaten to death. Lord knows I’ve pushed some limits. If it ever does come to that, I hope …
[Cover artwork by Mark Cooper] Can your band be deemed Bay-area thrash when you’re from Pittsburg(h)? The answer is yes—when you’re from PITTSBURG, CALIFORNIA! Silly me for not realizing many moons ago that the dudes …
[Cover art by Pär Olofsson] Despite the fact that this Dutch quintet has been battering skulls for more than two decades, a 14-year absence between full-lengths makes it at least a little fair that perhaps …
No matter what France’s Profanation name their next release, they aren’t going to top the title of this, their debut EP. Skull Crushing Violence isn’t just the name, it’s just about the most apt description …
Let’s just come right out with it: Moisson Livide’s debut album is a magical, righteous, utterly triumphant display of blackened folk metal. Hailing from the region in the southwest of France historically known as Gascony, …
Greetings, dear readers. It’s time to see what your friends at Last Rites have been listening to, with a feature we call Staff Infections. The battle for album of the month is not particularly fierce …
[Front cover artwork by Karina] A depiction of a Mortal Wound super-fan: If you are lucky enough to have parental units that counted your safety and prosperity as a top priority amidst your youth, then …
