“South Carolina duo Coffin Torture deal in an especially heavy and deadly brand of sludge—reminiscent of the slower cuts from High on Fire, and Dopethrone minus the blues influences—and specialize in the art of The Riff™. In fact, I daresay the band injected a fair amount of straight-up death metal into Blennoid, such is the devastating nature of its groove and verve.” If the coffin’s a-rockin’…
“A new Queensrÿche platter almost mandates a look back at the many peaks and valleys the band traversed over their long career. Early releases like their eponymous EP and The Warning were timeless pieces of traditional metal. They created what is arguably the best metal concept album of all time with Operation: Mindcrime, and they had major commercial success with Mindcrime and Empire without having to “sell out.” Lean years followed as Geoff Tate and company drifted into drab alt-rock (Hear in the Now Frontier, Q2K), then came the trend hopping (Tribe), and finally, phoning it in (Operation: Mindcrime II).” God save the Queensrÿche!
“Goatwhore is an institution, and in 2022 celebrate their 25th anniversary, fittingly capping the occasion with their first album since 2017’s solid, if safe, Vengeful Ascension. During a recent binge-to-end-all-Goatwhore-binges, alongside several of my esteemed colleagues, I gained a renewed appreciation of what a consistently kick-arse and reliable outfit the NOLA legends have been over the years. Despite honing a well-worn thrash/black/death formula, each Goatwhore album possesses skillful tweaks, creating distinctive album-to-album character.” Rocking the Goat.
