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 Jon Eardley After the shocking and disturbing events surrounding the frontman of Belgian sludgy doom troopers Thee Plague of Gentlemen in the middle part of 2006, it would have been easy for …
originally written by Chris McDonald My previous experience with Sweden’s Shining is limited to friends playing them for me and hearing several of their songs through various promotional mediums, but I am well aware of the semi-legendary …
Originally written by Chris Chellis. Truly melodic DEATH metal is a nearly extinct species. Weak, diluted bands pollute our metal air with their limp, failed stabs at being “accessible” while still technically fitting the death …
Originally written by Erik Thomas. Synopsis: In my recent black metal sabbatical, one of the names that kept surfacing was Japan’s apparently highly revered Sigh. So when Hangman’s Hymn, the band’s eight album, was released, I decided to …
Originally written by Tyler Wagnon. Belgium’s Blutch play an oppressively dark brand of sludgified doom with a discomforting disregard for structure or melody. Materia is the band’s first effort to be released in the US via At a Loss Recordings, …
Find me another artist who polarizes metal fans more than King Diamond, and I’ll eat my damned hat. And while you’re at it, if you can deliver more than a handful of people who’ve seen …
Originally written by Jason Jordan. Houston’s Scale the Summit are a tasteful, instrumental four-piece that will surely appeal to fans of Canvas Solaris, Dysrhythmia, and other clean, vocal-free acts. While not as complex as albums by the previously listed …
originally written by Jim Brandon I don’t know about some of you dweebs, but hardcore has been with me right along with metal from the moment I first tuned-in Z Rock Radio back in the …
