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 Michael Roberts. Unfortunately I haven’t heard Rosetta’s first album The Galilean Satellites so if it’s a comparison you’re after then you’ll have to look elsewhere. Taken on its own terms however, Wake/Lift is a strong entry in …
Technicality? BAH! Tangorodrim SMASH your technicality! Bells and whistles? YAARGH! Save your bells and whistles for the old! Tangorodrim explode your damned heart!! Tangorodrim punch your eyes with nails!! Tangorodrim kick loose your spine!!! TANGORODRIM …
Originally written by Michael Roberts. And so the thrash revival continues! After a lot of positive build-up the UK’s Evile have dropped their debut full-length for Earache, and it’s a cracking album in many ways, but your enjoyment …
Originally written by Tyler Wagnon. Right off the bat, I’d like to make you aware that I am a fan of The Black Dahlia Murder, but far from a fanboy. I don’t froth at the mouth …
My feelings on DevilDriver have been well documented on this site, so I’ll leave a lot of the background information out of this one. I will say that it has been interesting not only watching …
Originally written by Jason Jordan. Originally issued in 1999, We Are the Romans was Botch’s second full-length, but to the chagrin of many, was also their last. Though the breakup occurred two years after the release of this, …
Originally written by Jason Jordan. Along with Coalesce, Converge, and The Dillinger Escape Plan, Tacoma’s defunct Botch are renowned in -core circles, and are rightfully namedropped whenever anything even remotely chaotic is up for discussion. Hydra Head began reissuing their discography last …
If anyone deserves to benefit from the current resurgence (read: commercial viability) of thrash, it’s a band like Overkill. These originators have been hard at it for two decades; not collapsing under egos and superstar expectations, …
