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 You’ve no doubt read the old cliché critics like to trot out to assuage a potential hatchet job: “…but, they’re probably really nice guys.” Sometimes, it’s just a shuck and …
Originally written by Ramar Pittance There are two totally valid arguments to be made about Portal of I, the ambitious full length debut from Australia’s Ne Obliviscaris. There’s the one that I am pre-disposed to make. That …
There’s one of those memes going around that relates to awkward situations. It starts “That moment when . . . “ and is followed by something potentially embarrassing. After repeated listens, it somehow felt apropos …
It has often been remarked that technical death metal functions according to the law of diminishing returns. The first arpeggiated sweep? Awesome. The second? Pretty okay. But arpeggiated sweeps three through n? A bit like …
This band of damn dirty apes is made up of Brutal Truth vocalist Kevin Sharp, Mastodon guitarist Bill Kelliher and members of Atlanta’s The Despised, Otophobia and Javelina. Last year, a smaller version of Primate …
It must have been fate that MetalReview’s own Chris McDonald asked me to review his band Ectovoid’s debut, Fractured in the Timeless Abyss, during a time when I was trapped in my own sort of …
Some of the very finest bands in extreme metal succeed through a strategy of sheer overwhelming force. Volume, speed, weight; louder than loud, faster than hell, heavier than death. The question for any such band, …
Originally written by Matt Longo We like to compartmentalize — it’s only human. Without it, our brains would just overload, so this is where things like prejudices, stereotypes, assumptions and the like give us advanced …
