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 …
If there were a physical embodiment of my mental working space for this Macabre review, it would likely resemble the scenes left by those they sing about: crumpled pieces of paper in place of dead …
Have you ever come across music that just leaves you cold? I don’t mean an album that everyone seems to love that you think is crap; I’m talking an album that you know is good …
Originally written by Erik Thomas My last personal experience with Sweden’s Draconian was 2005’s excellent Arcane Rain Fell, and in fact, “Death, Come Near Me” is still one of my favorite doom tracks. I missed …
Impatient Pharaoh fans will be forced to wait a little longer for the rightful follow-up to the stellar Be Gone (supposedly due to hit the streets in the Fall), but this cracking EP will make that wait a little …
originally written by Chris McDonald Carnival is Forever is the kind of album that will always be tied to the context in which it’s released. In this case, it’s the first new output in over …
Spanish power metal act Vhäldemar has clearly taken much inspiration from their Teutonic cousins to the northeast – quite simply, they couldn’t sound a whole lot more German unless they were chanting “Deustchland Uber Alles” …
Singapore’s Rudra has been kicking around in some form since 1992, but it was really with the 2005 release of Brahmavidya: Primordial I (the first in a trilogy that is completed by the album currently …
For forty-two years, Uriah Heep has rocked right along. It hasn’t all been easy living, of course – those early 70s records that are almost universally recognized as the top of the Heep are long …
