Generally Impressed With Riffs
[Album artwork by James Koehnline] As much as I love and appreciate the fact that my metal foundation was fortified by growing up alongside the genre in the ‘80s as a youth, I owe a great deal of my undying …
[Cover art by Fenomeno Design] Did you know that Chile is pretty darn good at death metal? If not, you must be new around these parts, in which case, I say, welcome friend! We’re glad to have you here and …
It’s a magical corner of the musical world where a band can combine an infectious nature with extreme oddness, and it’s in that corner that Idaho’s Seven Chains makes their home. Make no mistake about it, third album Swollen, In …
[Cover art by Claudio Elias Scialabba] Italy’s Into Darkness has been a band for approximately 15 years but is just now releasing its first full length album, Route to the Other Side, but all that time has been greatly beneficial …
[Cover art by Juliet Lacarne*] Postmodernism is a really wild thing to try to navigate in terms of art and music. Take Makeshift Crematoria, the first full length and third release overall for Californian duo …
Bloodlines is modern Pyramaze distilled—catchy and frequently poppy melodic metal, with faint hints of the band’s proggier early years. Granted, that won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, particularly those whose affinity for the band begins …
Untold ‘eavy metal bands have told tales of supernatural coercion, where some poor soul commits an unspeakable act after being tempted or tormented by a nefarious entity. However, none of us really need any other-worldly …
[Cover Art by Cameron Hinojosa] “Fires in the Fall? It’s June, you big dummy!” For some of you, releasing a warm black metal album best suited for sitting in solitude next to a roaring fire …
I used to half-joke that I liked funeral doom because it was music for stretching out, closing your eyes, and trying your darnedest to believe you were laying in your coffin. I say half-joke because …
[Cover Art by Manisha Mohnani] In 2021, Moral Collapse released their self-titled debut album, seemingly out of nowhere. Better than a surprise debut is a really damn good surprise debut, and that’s precisely what Moral …
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 …
