Generally Impressed With Riffs
[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 …
[Cover artwork by Subhuman at Desert Dungeon] Let’s talk about our love for quirky metal. Okay, sure, any definable level of ‘quirk’ is obviously subjective, but I’m guessing you know we’re not talking about the guy who loves The Black …
2011, huh? Political and economic turmoil throughout the world, major life changes here on the home front, all the usual anxieties and insecurities and tiny insignificant victories, and through it all, a certified fuckload of …
From a writers perspective, 2011 was a very interesting transition year for me. Somewhere in the process of graduating from college (4 years late, but hey…), spending some time to myself in Northern Germany and …
What. A. Year. Can’t say much else. I probably had 30 albums to try to squeeze into 20 spots and 15 into the top 10 this year. There was just so much wicked stuff I’d …
2011 was a year punctuated by diversity. While many bemoaned the blackened inclination of our 2010 awards, it’s doubtful that accusations of genre favoritism will rear their heads this time around. The year’s best albums …
originally written by Chris McDonald Well, this is definitely not what I was expecting. Long-running Danish act Illdisposed began their life as a catchy, epic melodic death metal band, with lots of flashy guitar solos …
originally written by Chris McDonald Haemoth’s brand of black metal seems to be often overlooked in certain sections of the pantheon of metal listeners these days, which I suppose is understandable considering the wealth of …
Wolvhammer wants to mess you up. On its second album, this Minneapolis / Chicago collective seethes with a barely contained malevolence and a passionately ill-tempered delivery. The base of the band’s sound is black metal, …
originally written by Jim Brandon It’s become rather clear to me lately how bands that seem ideal on paper, even from most every collaborative veteran angle, sometimes fail to formulate into anything to be properly …
