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 Matt Longo Gypsyhawk is so much fun that I wish they stuck in my brain more easily. Musically, this is similar material to that tackled by dudes like Holy Cauldron Wizzard Enforcer …
Originally written by Jordan Campbell Scenario: You’re the most extreme heavy metal band on the planet. You’ve spent roughly ten years in a perpetual state of berserk assault, attacking listeners from nearly every angle. Your …
Albuquerque art-grinders Noisear jump from Relapse to Willowtip for this, their third full-length effort. I have to admit that I missed out on last year’s Subverting The Dominant Paradigm (to my loss, I’ve heard), and …
Embers and Revelations opens on a deep, subterranean drone, an ominous calm that gradually twists and shimmers through various introductory motifs and teasing riff-fragments. Weapon’s founder, guitarist, and mouthpiece Vetis Monarch sounds positively gleeful as …
There are basically two ways to view Lethal Waters, the sophomore album from Nova Scotia’s Black Moor. On one hand, it largely fails all of the typical “critics’ darling” tests. The execution of a melodic, …
Considering that Down has basically been a full-time band for several years now, the development of the fourth entry in their recorded catalog sure took a long damn time. Eventually they announced that Down IV …
Originally written by Jordan Campbell It’s odd that there aren’t more Sepultura clones out there. (And when I’m talking Sepultura, I’m talking about the band that broke up circa 1997. I know Andreas Kisser’s cabaret …
Hour of 13 seemed to be a band on the rise following the release of its last album, 2010’s The Ritualist. On the strength of that release the band was signed to Earache Records, which …
