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 Brady Humbert. My first contender for a top ten album of the year: Boris’ Smile. Boris is an experimental post-rock outfit from Japan. The band is a mish-mash of styles, more or less lumped together to create …
Originally written by Tyler Wagnon. Holy Hell! This is an absolutely scorching debut self-financed EP from Denver’s Vale of Pnath. The band formed in 2005 and apparently spent a lot of time perfecting the four songs …
Heidevolk hails from Holland (or, if you prefer geographical nomenclatures that sound like polite references to your genitalia, “The Netherlands”). Their first record, 2005’s De Strijdlust Is Geboren, garnered some positive interest, although I myself …
Originally written by Chris Chellis. Progression is a dicey term, but no matter how one comes to define it, I think we can all agree that it can have negative connotations. In the context of …
Originally written by Jordan Campbell No, this isn’t a reissue of a long-lost, proto-Arghoslent demo from 1990. This, unfortunately, is a novice black metal band. Despite the fact that at least two bands in their home country …
Originally written by Sasha Horn Arsis are a band that need no introduction. But if I absolutely had to, at a party let’s say, and I forgot your name, I would introduce them quickly as my …
originally written by Jim Brandon Once in a while when things get busy behind the scenes here, an album or three isn’t snatched up to review right away. After noticing nobody had picked Bliss Of …
I’ve been a Soilent Green fan since I first belatedly ran across Sewn Mouth Secrets some years back, and I still hold that record as the band’s finest hour. Nothing on Inevitable Collapse changes that …
