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 Erik Thomas. Synopsis: If placed in a Hostel 2, genital removing situation and forced to name two of the best unsigned bands no one has ever heard of, I’d easily go with The Pax Cecilia and The …
Originally written by Michael Roberts. Before I begin it should be made clear that I only have a passing knowledge and appreciation of the ‘progressive death metal’ sub-genre. To be more specific, Death’s Symbolic is about as out-there …
Originally written by Keith Fox. I’m apparently missing out on something, because I can’t find many serious negative reviews of this album. Everyone is eating it up, calling it either a magnificent return to form …
Originally written by Erik Thomas. Synopsis: The last time I dealt with Belgium’s Thurisaz was their self released Scent of a Dream effort, which was a vaguely folk/pagan mishmash of gothic metal, black metal and melodic death metal. It …
It would have been hard to believe that the demise of doom titans Sleep would eventually pay major dividends to fans, but here we are, gifted with two of the year’s best albums, within less than a …
Originally written by Ian Chainey I’ll split this one into two for easy readin‘/skippin‘. The “Just the Facts, Jack“ Review: Vestigial’s Aeon is a beautifully packaged dark ambient album that brings together mostly beatless industrial-tinged …
Originally written by Ramar Pittance To say the least, Alaska was not the kind of Between the Buried and Mealbum I was hoping for in 2005. That’s not to say I ever bought into the conventional wisdom that this …
Originally written by Jason Jordan. Because each Himsa installment is superior to its forebears, it would seem that the game of label hopscotch has only worked in their favor. Coincidentally, Summon in Thunder – their inaugural outing for Century Media – is a …
