Generally Impressed With Riffs
[Album artwork by James Koehnline] As much as I love and appreciate the fact that my metal foundation was fortified by growing up alongside the genre in the ‘80s as a youth, I owe a great deal of my undying …
[Cover art by Fenomeno Design] Did you know that Chile is pretty darn good at death metal? If not, you must be new around these parts, in which case, I say, welcome friend! We’re glad to have you here and …
It’s a magical corner of the musical world where a band can combine an infectious nature with extreme oddness, and it’s in that corner that Idaho’s Seven Chains makes their home. Make no mistake about it, third album Swollen, In …
[Cover art by Claudio Elias Scialabba] Italy’s Into Darkness has been a band for approximately 15 years but is just now releasing its first full length album, Route to the Other Side, but all that time has been greatly beneficial …
originally written by Erik Thomas Arguably one of the first metalcore bands to add keyboards, Orange County’s Bleeding Through have been a steady, if divisive, force in US metal. Now apparently less concerned with being rock stars …
Originally written by Chris Chellis. Reinventing the wheel, these guys are not. In death metal years, this might as well pre-date the formation of the original wheel, so the fact that Ibex Moon was the …
originally written by Erik Thomas Along with Evocation, Fleshcrawl, Bloodbath and such, Nominon is definitely one of the more qualified and experienced purveyors of old school Swedish death metal, with past and present members serving in a host of …
Ignoring the more epic connotations that go with naming their band after Poseidon’s weapon of choice, Sweden’s Trident instead employ the form of thrash- and death-influenced black metal currently saturating the scene. Debut World Destruction …
originally written by Erik Thomas You can count me in the number that was incredibly underwhelmed by the debut from this American black metal supergroup, as it came across like all 5 members delivering their …
originally written by Jim Brandon 1349’s last album Revelations Of The Black Flame was far less of a disappointment to me as it was for many others, mostly because while I’ve always respected the band, …
originally written by Jim Brandon Funeral doom is a genre I’ve slowly been easing myself into over the past few years, and Denmark’s Black Wreath is one of the bands that has left a strong impression …
“Ufomammut are gonna make a big splash with this album.” Seems like I’ve been saying that since 2004, when I first heard Snailking. But for whatever reason, these Italians still seem to be flying under the radar …
