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 …
“Now I’m not the expert on Celtic Frost that I probably should be, but please, say it ain’t so. Tell me there was an error at the pressing plant that pressed certain tracks to disc more …
Chris Sessions’ take: Satyricon is a well known black metal band and they write pretty interesting black metal songs, but the method of recording these songs is somewhat limp. Which is unfortunate, but not a …
The best thing about heavy metal is the emphasis it places on bad storytelling, orchestras and weak assed keyboards, really. It’s why, out of all the various musical styles I might get involved with as …
Apart from the occasional guest now and again, guitarist/bassist/principal vocalist Nocturno Culto and drummer/occasional vocalist Fenriz have been the sole contributing members of Darkthrone since their seminal 1994 release, Transylvanian Hunger. Since that landmark record, …
Originally written by Chris Chellis. Layers upon layers of filth, decay, blackness, and good old rock ‘n fucking roll welcome listeners to Vreid’s second outing, Pitch Black Brigade. Not only do Vreid manage to distance themselves further from their …
At last Southern Lord rewards those who delay gratification with a domestic release of Pink, last year’s effort from Japan’s sonic changelings, Boris. In addition to being easier to find and afford, this version boasts an impressive new artwork layout …
Originally written by Chris Chellis. Spacey, trippy, and every other word you can think of that somehow alludes to being so drugged up that you can’t even fathom the thought of walking describes this album …
originally written by Jim Brandon Extremity for the sake of extremity has never impressed me very much. I’ve heard plenty of bands who try to overwhelm with velocity and force, overly-technical and utterly murderous to …
