Generally Impressed With Riffs
Listening to the new album from Brazil’s Deafkids, Cicatrizes Do Futuro, I’ve been thinking about rivers. [indignant voice from the back]: WHAT? Mea culpa, friend. I’m here today to preach the gospel of Under the banner of Deafkids, the duo …
[Album artwork by Harshanand Singh] The third album is in some ways a litmus test for a band’s longevity. Three albums is a sufficient sample size—you can generally tell where a band is headed, whether they’ll last, whether they speak …
[Pre]-historically speaking, the boys, Nocturno Culto and Fenriz, have always been influenced by the likes of Celtic Frost, Bathory, and all things ‘80s. In fact, they don’t shy away from the fact that it’s always been about that era. After …
[Cover art by Quinn Henderson] You’re familiar with the term, “unc,” right? If not, it generally refers to a washed up older feller whose personality in large part revolves around extravagantly performing confusion and/or displeasure at the mere notion of …
Below are a couple of noisy releases from the far-flung (and increasingly cyclone-battered) shores of Aotearoa New Zealand. Generally, when I write about metal or punk from my neck of the woods, I start by …
If you’d told me six months ago that one of my most-played albums of the first half of 2023 would be a post-apocalyptic power metal concept album told from the perspectives of pets, well, I’d …
Alright, kids, welcome to a somewhat belated and not particularly special Father’s Day edition of Staff Infections. If you don’t know the drill for this recurring feature, it goes as such: We, the Last Rites …
Kia ora, comrades. Welcome to In Crust We Trust. This regular round-up of noisy releases focuses on the harshest strains of punk, hardcore and metalpunk. Tune in for crust, d-beat, stenchcore, raw punk, noisecore, and …
Ukraine’s Heruvim burst into the scene ‒ and our 2022 EP list ‒ with last year’s beastly Shadowheart. They showed a massive affinity towards Edge of Sanity (the melody, the gargantuan riffs, the deep growls) …
Metal moved fast in the 80s. It was the wild, open frontier–there was so much room to push things faster, louder, and more aggressive. Simultaneously, it’s bastard cousin in punk was pushing stripped roots rock …
Look, there’s no need to call anybody old. Let’s just say that a few of us here at Last Rites have acquired… a nice patina. Maybe you have too, in which case you’re lucky to …
Heavier and more progressive than 2019’s What the Water Wants, the Fates Warning singer’s sophomore effort, II, retains the former’s ethereal feel but hits some incredible highs that were perhaps lacking on that earlier effort …
