Generally Impressed With Riffs
[Album artwork by Truls Espedal] It’s 17 albums for Enslaved now, comprising a discography I find exceptionally challenging to wrap my arms around. What’s going on here? Does anyone else forget that the relatively rote and by-the-numbers Frost is actually …
[Cover art by Per Spjøtvold] Want a fun way to acknowledge your own mortality? Think about how many years you’ve been listening to certain bands or albums. Of course, you, a distinguished devotee of this publication, surely engage in this practice, …
To put it mildly, I’ve been a bit sidetracked this year, so I apologize to all zero of my readers for not keeping them informed on the state of grindcore as I see it. Thankfully, I have some conscientious compatriots …
[Cover Artwork by Julia Proszowska] Something about the internet that only occurred to me recently is that it’s changed the way we think about death. Like just about everything else, the very notion of death has lost so much of …
My relationship with Children of Bodom is very similar to the one I have with In Flames. Both were started at the same time (in 1999, when Hatebreeder and Colony were the respective current releases) …
Originally written by Michael Roberts. Although I was aware of this band’s connections with Maudlin of the Well, I had not previously heard Toby Driver’s Kayo Dot prior to wrapping my ears around Blue Lambency Downward. Needless to say, …
As strange as the name Witchsmeller Pursuivant sounds, it’s actually quite fitting. Swiped directly from the fifth episode of the first season of Rowan Atkinson’s Black Adder, the name embodies the not-so-serious nature of this …
originally written by Chris McDonald Hailing from Spain, a country not usually recognized for its extreme metal scene, Empty have impressed this reviewer tremendously with one hell of a strong depressive black metal release. A …
After 20 years, 68 band members, 17 albums, and appearances on Judge Judy, Larry King Live, Jerry Springer, Howard Stern, Talk Soup, MTV, Ripley’s Believe it Or Not, and CNN, you’d think Skitzo would have …
originally written by Thomas Creager Originally released in 2006, A Consequence of Design is finding rejuvenated life in remastered and augmented form that only a newly struck record deal can bring. This re-release features, aside …
Originally written by Michael Roberts. While fans await the band’s upcoming full-length Assassins: Black Meddle Pt. 1 on Century Media, Blake Judd and Co. have kindly given us this tasty little morsel in the Worldfall EP. Comprised of two new …
Epic metal in the classic tradition, Greece’s Battleroar evokes the heyday of Iron Maiden, Queensryche, Manilla Road, Omen, pre-prog Fates Warning and others. What little I’ve heard of earlier Battleroar efforts didn’t particularly wow me—like …
