Generally Impressed With Riffs
[Pre]-historically speaking, the boys, Nocturno Culto and Fenriz, have always been influenced by the likes of Celtic Frost, Bathory, and all things ‘80s. In fact, they don’t shy away from the fact that it’s always been about that era. After …
[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 …
Originally written by Erik Thomas It just feels weird to say Blood Duster on “Season of Mist” records, but anyhow here it is and as most Blood Duster fans probably predicted, this is a far …
Originally written by Harley Carlson. America has certainly had its fair share of first-rate power metal acts, but few of them, however, have been qualified enough to hold a torch to the overlords of the …
Originally written by Harley Carlson. If you could only fathom how floored I was when I learned that members of Rhapsody and Ensiferum had joined forces with the one and only Yngwie J. Malmsteen, to bring forth the super group …
Rhapsody is a band so gloriously over the top that a new label had to be created just for them – Hollywood Metal. Never before has that label been more appropriate than on their latest …
Originally written by Ramar Pittance Start Killing is the two megaton bastard child of all things sonically menacing, and it is knocking at your door. Hailing from a land where all things brutal rule the …
Originally written by Tim Pigeon Apparently The Haunted have kissed and made up with their original vocalist Peter Dolving after Marco Aro decided to call it a day. Besides that shift, not much else has …
Ahhhh, Saxon. So many years under that belt. In the right (or wrong?) light, frontman Biff Byford looks like the walking dead. Just what exactly keeps the old dogs running so long? Black Sabbath, Judas …
Originally written by Gregory Bradley. You European sons of bitches are damned lucky. You get to see Blind Guardian live as often as we are forced to hear about tours from shitty American pop-stars and boy bands. …
