Tag: Primer
Manic First Impressions: A Belated Dive Into Anacrusis
Like all of us here at Last Rites — and like most all of you, I would guess — I’ve spent a large part of my life exploring this beast called Heavy Metal. Since my …
The Seal Of Quality – A Riot Primer, Part 2
The 80s were tough on Riot, even as the band was creating classic metal albums. There were endless line-up changes, contentious dealings with labels, managers, and producers, and mostly, there was a massive disparity between …
The Seal Of Quality – A Riot Primer, Part 1
For those of us who don’t believe in predestination, the past is an endless series of could-have-beens. Every adventure left unchosen branches out in infinite directions, all the possible pasts and futures winding around one …
Véritable Acier De France: A French Heavy Metal Primer (1980-1985)
Heavy metal is a worldwide phenomenon. While its godfathers in Black Sabbath and fathers in Judas Priest were playing the style years before the dawn of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, this era …
Music Over My Head – A King’s X Primer, Part 2
The first part of this two-piece primer covered King’s X’s golden era, the ten years between their debut and the loss of their major label deal. Of the six records they released during that decade, …
Music Over My Head – A King’s X Primer, Part 1
Generally speaking, artists are the sum of their influences. Narrow the scope of the influences and you narrow the scope of the art, and the artist will have a harder time separating his or her …
Pass The Carrots, Please – A Provocative Lugubrum Primer
One of the most considerable windfalls afforded by the second wave of black metal in the early 90s was the fact that it provided a harsh and crucial reconnection with metal’s Primordial Soup. That’s not …