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 Jeremy Garner There have been a few important changes in the Severe Torture camp. First, these Dutch heavyweights have moved from Hammerheart Records to the ranks of monolithic death metal label Earache; …
Originally written by Jason Jordan. Grab a Snickers; you’re gonna be here for a while. No matter how much my musical preferences change, I’ll always have a soft spot for prog. It was the first …
Originally written by Jeremy Garner After releasing their last two full-lengths on Obscene Productions (No Mercy in 2004 and The Mass Rotting The Mass Sickening in 2002) Squash Bowels made a somewhat surprising move to …
Originally written by Jason Jordan. It’s not so much about the Benjamins as it is about the riffs, and Kataklysm have plenty of them. Surprisingly, this Canadian band has been tearing it up for 15 years, but …
Synopsis: This is Krisiun. They have several records out, and they play fast-to-blast technical Death Metal, record it perfectly, release it to us and don’t fuck around. Review: I happen to think this band is …
Originally written by Jeremy Garner I’ve been struggling with this particular band for some time now. I can’t really place my finger on it, but there’s something about this band that eludes me. Helrunar doesn’t …
Dave Pirtle’s take: Good news – this ain’t Soundtrack To Your Escape Bad news – this ain’t The Jester Race And you know what? You just might like it anyway. I’ve already seen this album called a …
Originally written by Ben Graves. I hate reviewing albums that I’m indifferent to, and Himsa’s Hail Horror, the followup to 2003’s Courting Tragedy And Disaster, falls squarely into that category. Hail Horror isn’t an awful release by any stretch of …
