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 …
Originally written by Chris Chellis. I am always open to beautifully sung gothic metal, and with Lacuna Coil basically M.I.A. there’s never been a better opportunity for Theatre of Tragedy to take the scene by Storm. I have a weakness …
Originally written by Jason Jordan. Since Palace of Mirrors calls The End its home, was there any doubt it’d be good but out of left field? Similar to Wormfood and labelmates Unexpect, Estradasphere play a brand of avant-garde that mixes various genres/subgenres, incorporates a …
Originally written by Tim Pigeon Like a precision piece of clockwork, Poland’s finest export is back with another fine album. Vader have released new material every single year for the past seven years, and the quality never …
Chris Chellis’ take: History unfolds before us and the two-ton text that is Maiden slaps us across the face yet again to demand another thorough read with A Matter of Life and Death. Like any aging author whose …
Originally written by Jon Eardley This band’s journey through the world of power metal territory goes all the way back to the late 80’s, but it wasn’t until the late 90’s when I first caught …
originally written by Jim Brandon When it comes to black metal, I prefer to listen to the cold, dry, but slightly atmospheric variety. I think Candlelight has pretty much covered all the bases as far …
Now, just taking a look at this thing, one has to think that Luca Turilli is either a Devin Townsend-like musical genius, or a Yngwie Malmsteen-like pretentious egomaniac. Adding onto an already impressive resume of …
Originally written by Jason Jordan. If you’re familiar with Behold…the Arctopus, it’s probably due to guitarist Colin Marston’s ties to Byla, Infidel?/Castro!, and most similarly, Dysrhythmia. Strangely, however, of all the Reviews of Mass Destruction in the stockpile here …
