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 …
I first heard Today Is The Day when I saw them live in 1999, six years after this record was initially released. My buddy Kevin and I saw them in a shit-hole club in Nashville …
originally written by Jim Brandon When was the last time you heard a truly pissed-off album? I don’t mean just super heavy guitar tones, blast beats, or over the top throat shredding, I mean genuinely …
Originally written by Chris Chellis. The bouts are relatively few and far between for Manilla Road but when they walk toward the ring in those spiffy black shorts with the gold trimming you know that they mean …
Originally written by Erik Thomas. Synopsis: WOW. Imagine 3 Inches of Blood mixed with early Kreator, and Iron Maiden. On crack. Review: This short (14 minutes) but killer EP is four tracks of furious thrash, punk, black, death metal …
Originally written by Erik Thomas. Synopsis: Recorded in Quebec City, Canada at L’Imperial, Live Progression, although an enjoyable live release, reeks of contractual filler for Galy after the band’s jump to Prosthetic for their up coming The …
originally written by Jim Brandon Wallowing knee-deep into some seriously thick, crusty grind/hardcore, the Supernova Records’ debut from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s Complete Failure is about what you should expect to hear from a band on Steve …
originally written by Jim Brandon The Rising Tide Of Oblivion was a pretty damn solid album, but despite my admiration for Germany’s Neaera, the follow-up Let The Tempest Come didn’t really cause too much of …
originally written by Chris McDonald To be blunt, I’ve never really liked Xasthur. I’m very much a fan of American black metal, and as such have made numerous attempts to gain an appreciation for Malefic’s …
