Generally Impressed With Riffs
[Cover artwork by Douglas Leal] Listening to the new album from Brazil’s Deafkids, Cicatrizes Do Futuro, I’ve been thinking about rivers. [indignant voice from the back]: WHAT? Mea culpa, friend. I’m here today to preach the gospel of Under the …
[Album artwork by Harshanand Singh] The third album is in some ways a litmus test for a band’s longevity. Three albums is a sufficient sample size—you can generally tell where a band is headed, whether they’ll last, whether they speak …
[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 …
As of the first week of December, it’s been fifteen years since I started writing for Last Rites — which wasn’t called Last Rites then, if you remember. (And if you don’t, then it’s irrelevant, …
First of all, forgive the self-indulgence. These words could be inscribed atop any list, any review, any critique; yet they beg to be uttered. After all, it’s a fundamental rule in critical writing: don’t use …
Welcome all, to another view into my listening mind. As usual, I will surely regret the ordering of these items within the fortnight. Or maybe I won’t, because this is just a snapshot, and it …
[Content advisory: The following article contains an in-depth and intimate account of the loss of a loved one. If you believe the reading could be traumatizing, you may wish to forgo it.] A handful of …
I have spent the better part of a full morning kicking over rocks in all the corners of my brain in an attempt to recall any sort of crucial trends, significant controversies or major Pants-Filling …
If there’s one thing that we at Last Rites cannot be accused of, it’s not expressing ourselves enough to get the points across. Maybe it’s our enthusiasm in discussing the finer points of this wide …
Chances are pretty high that a not insignificant part of what first drew you to heavy metal were the aesthetics and imagery associated with our beloved genre. Maybe you were a young lady raised in …
A stunning, arguably canonical debut, Fall of the Idols’ The Womb of the Earth remains a doom high-water mark. Though hardly an uplifting contribution, “Sown are the Seeds of Doom” remains a Soundtrack of 2006 …
