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 …
originally written by Jim Brandon So maybe sometimes you have to look at the form more than the substance. Perhaps we expect too much from our artists. Impress us, surprise us, make our skin tingle …
This second installment in Pig Destroyer / Agoraphobic Nosebleed mastermind Scott Hull’s series of samplers of underground grindcore, power-violence and hardcore manages to transcend label-cash-in compilation-album status (be it through quality, sheer luck, or Hull’s involvement) …
The new project of former Skeletonwitch bassist Eric Harris, Gypsyhawk trades that band’s blackened take on thrash for a vintage 1970s stoner haze. Given the artwork and logo design, I was expecting a more prog- …
It has long been MyOpinion that, if there truly were a merciful God above, He/She would spare us from about 95% of the music made in His/Her name… MyCleverGeneralizations notwithstanding, Alabama’s MyChildren MyBride is apparently …
So, first off, as you may have noticed, this band is called “Panzerbastard.” And, as you also may have noticed, that’s pretty rad. I signed up for this solely because of that radness, and I …
The term “instrumental act” is anything but a universal label. More often than not it refers to songs of typical structure that lack vocals but are overflowing with solos or riffs. However, some bands write …
originally written by Jim Brandon As far as experimental bands go, Greece’s Ethereal Blue is one of the more interesting acts I’ve heard this year, melding an unusual blend of melodic death, fierce black metal …
Space-rock mainstay Hawkwind is in the beginnings of its fifth decade as a band (forty-one years and counting), perennial leader Dave Brock guiding these psychedelic warlords through twenty-plus studio albums now. The band’s back catalog …
