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 Jason Jordan. Hour of Penance, an Italian brutal death quintet, have most assuredly avoided the sophomore slump by unleashing Pageantry for Martyrs, which proves to be potent for those who fancy the subgenre …
Originally written by Jason Jordan. Brutal death metal incumbents Masacre have returned to office for the first time in many years, and Total Death is quite an accomplishment. But, as is the case with their Xtreem Music (great label …
Originally written by Chris Chellis. Being a true believer in the drive-by review, here I go… Finding hard rock worth listening to in today’s music scene is an exercise in futility. Those both brave and …
Originally written by Tim Pigeon Few bands engender as much controversy and incite as much scorn as In Flames has in the past few years. After releasing four of the most influential albums in the melodic death …
Pro-Pain is one of the workhorses of the hardcore/metal genre. You can count on them to release an album every year or so about as reliably as you can count on each year bringing another …
Originally written by Ramar Pittance Sick of reading reviews for Christian hardcore and artsy cum fartsy post-rock? Wish we could just metal the fuck up and tell Lifeforce records to end correspondence? Well here you …
Originally written by Harley Carlson. I admittedly have very little knowledge in regards to the history of Impellitteri. The few releases that I have actually heard, 1992’s Grin And Bear It and 1994’s Answer To The Master (both with the …
Originally written by Jason Jordan. Yes Michael Amott can shred with the best of them, but does it really matter when the songwriting abilities just aren’t there? In case you haven’t noticed by now, …
