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 Michael Roberts. I’d heard and read good things about this UK band’s sophomore effort when it was originally released last year. Now that Century Media have kindly taken on Architects for wider distribution, we can now …
originally written by Chris McDonald Before I begin, I should warn you: If you are looking for something catchy and intense to bang your head to in the car on the way to work, don’t …
Following up a 2-disc best-of collection with a covers collection? I’m not quite sure what is up with HammerFall these days. Less than a year after releasing Steel Meets Steel – Ten Years of Glory, they bring us …
Originally written by Michael Roberts. Poland’s Exit Wounds return with thirty rounds of brutal grindcore done the old way. Forget the song-oriented approach of latter-day Nasum or the horror movie atmospherics of Pig Destroyer, Exit Wounds is simply speed and spit all …
Originally written by Brady Humbert. I’ll preface this review by explaining that this album, in fact, is primed for album of the year for me. The best piece of atmospheric metal I’ve yet to hear this …
England’s Porkfarm unleash their Deepsend debut EP. Blood Harvest is a blistering blast of gory death/grind that blends dashes of early Gorerotted with a host of classic death metal acts and some grindcore dirtiness to boot. What …
Originally written by Jordan Campbell Vader is no longer simply a band. The name has become an institution, a stalwart symbol of determination and destruction among death metal’s pantheon. As the title of this tome suggests, …
Originally written by Michael Roberts. The best way I can describe Gigan’s sound is a confrontation between Floridian-styled death metal and Dillinger-esque mathcore somewhere deep in outer space. That third point is crucial, as there’s a definite …
