Tag: Southern Lord
Big|Brave – Vital Review
[Front cover artwork / photo by Big|Brave] All glory to Iommi that metal is as chimerical and unconventional as it so very often is, because the last year+ has obviously provided enough harrowing spectacle that …
High Command – Everlasting Torment Review
Fast Rites: because sometimes brevity is fundamental. Epic fantasy thrash? Is that a thing? No? Can we make it a thing? Worcester, Mass’s High Command is doing their damnedest to make it a thing, and …
Xibalba – Años En Infierno Review
Californian heavyweights Xibalba have spent the past thirteen years constructing a gigantic edifice (much like the one depicted by on their latest album cover) out of sledgehammering hardcore and equally concussive death metal. The band’s …
Martyrdöd – Hexhammaren Review
Swedish kängpunks Martyrdöd have always sounded iron-willed and up for a fight. No more so than on their new album, Hexhammaren. With a who’s who lineup of Scandi punk / metal heavyweights, Martyrdöd have spent …
Big|Brave – A Gaze Among Them Review
Loudness is a crutch. “Maximum volume yields maximum results” is a fine bit of sloganeering, but as a guiding principle for music, its pithiness belies its hollowness. Of course, the act of listening necessarily requires …
Axis Of Despair – Contempt For Man Review
In some ways, it must be exhausting being part of some legendary group. Everything Anders Jakobsen does (or has done since 2005) is and will be inevitably compared to his time in Nasum, and he’ll …
Missing Pieces: The Best Of What We’ve Missed In 2018 So Far, Part 2
Here at Last Rites, we listen to a metric shit-ton of heavy metal—it’s just what we do. But even then, every year, there’s so much great heavy metal that gets released that we simply don’t …
Agrimonia – Awaken Review
Agrimonia have as their motif emotionally driven, Opethic death metal songs presented with an epic, slightly black metal and crusty undercurrent. It is a fairly satisfying sound, for the most part. Of course the problem …