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 …
If you ever needed proof that anger is one of the purest human emotions, just give a listen to Fukpig’s bewilderingly-named third album, 3. To elaborate, a sample lyric from “Delight in the Dying of …
On January 25, 2012, Riot founder / guitarist / mastermind Mark Reale tragically lost his lifelong struggle with Crohn’s Disease. The band issued the following statement: “To friends and fans of Mark Reale and Riot, …
On August 2nd, 2011, Slough Feg shambled into Poland for the first time in their lengthy 20+ years of existence to play before an intimate (and apparently distinctly polite) crowd at the Progresja Club in …
Originally written by Rae Amitay Lamb of God was one of the first metal bands I truly loved. As the Palaces Burn and Ashes of the Wake blended aggressive riffs, furious lyrics, and enviable musicianship …
Cruciamentum has been making various unseemly noises in the British underground over the past few years, particularly via an extremely well-regarded 2009 demo and an excellent split with Vasaeleth from last year. Engulfed in Desolation …
Originally written by Ramar Pittance After cycling through nearly 20 bandmates and two distinctly modern approaches to symphonic black metal, Abigail Williams’ main man Ken Sorceron sounds closer to finding a style that suits him on Becoming, …
Astral Doors began life with the stated intent of paying homage to the likes of Dio, Dio-fronted Black Sabbath, and Dio-fronted Rainbow. So it’s safe to say that they sound a lot like Dio. But …
In this bimonthly column, staff writer Doug Moore takes a very close look at extreme metal lyrics. Some will be serious, some will be silly, but they’ll all go under the microscope. Pig Destroyer is …
