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 …
Fast Rites: because sometimes brevity is fundamental. “Resist my rule and meet my axe!” That line from “Skullsplitter” might as well be Bloodletter’s motto moving forward. Partying or railing against societal ills is all well …
Finally, someone uses another part of that Oppenheimer quote… We’ve heard that whole Baghavad Gita bit a hundred times – “Now I am become Death, destroyer of worlds” – but honestly, I don’t know that …
Sound has a mind of its own. That’s a pretty thought, isn’t it? It’s completely wrong, but maybe an easier pitch is that sounds can become so freighted with contextual baggage that they summon entire …
[Cover art by Xabier Sagasta] The orthodoxy of grindcore means that pushing too far away from the core will often lead to a band no longer being considered part of the genre (see: Wake). That …
A question, dear reader: You ever have a band or a record that, upon first listen (or second, third, tenth, or more), you don’t understand or “get,” or simply don’t like at all, but then …
[Cover art by Samantha Muljat] Generally speaking, evolution in nature is a slow and lengthy process. So much so, in fact, that you’re not likely to notice it happen but must look at the remains …
Think that grindcore is all about unrelenting aggression and speed and blastbeats? Well, I mean, yeah, sometimes it is… More often than not, even… I can see how you would think that. But my point …
[Cover artwork by the inimitable Jon Zig] I’ll be honest and quickly admit the following right from the jump: For reasons having zero to do with the actual quality of the release, I have spent …
