Generally Impressed With Riffs
[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 …
[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 …
In 1994, Machine Head crashed into the metal scene with Burn My Eyes, an album that to this day is regarded as a classic of the genre. At a time when metal was being pushed …
The premature death of Oregon doom dealers YOB was a serious bummer, especially as it came after the band had delivered a string of excellent albums capped off by 2004’s The Unreal Never Lived. The silver lining was that …
Long-running drone pioneers Earth capitalize on the critically lauded Hex: Or Printing in the Infernal Method as well as provide a supersize appetizer for their forthcoming album, The Bee Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull, with the CD/DVD combo Hibernaculum. The …
Despite the fact that I have been a fan of Extol for a number of years, it wasn’t until two weeks ago that I finally heard mention of their connection to the band Lengsel. A …
Originally written by David Ochoa. I keep hoping to be proven wrong. I keep hoping that Chimaira will somehow fulfill the potential they have always shown glimpses of having in a curveball album that is consistently uncompromising, …
Originally written by Jon Eardley Approaching the 20 year mark within the music business – this release being studio album number seven in that lengthy period of time – it seems the machine that Peter …
Originally written by Jeremy Garner There’s been a lot of buzz circling this band, and even I got a bit caught up in the excitement. Considering Abigail Williams was originally formed from the ashes of …
Originally written by Jeremy Garner Horna has been around for a bit more than a decade at this point, and I feel somewhat embarrassed in mentioning this is the first time I’ve ever really sat …
