Gravesend
Blast Rites: February 2021’s Hottest Metal
Welcome to Blast Rites, SPIN’s monthly metal column! In this edition, we’ll dive headfirst into Blut Aus Nord visionary Vindsval returning to his roots, pummeling SoCal sludge, new heat from future Texas legends, a blackened RPG adventure, and a double dose of nasty grindcore. Read previous editions of Blast Rites here. Forhist — Forhist (Debemur Morti) In 1995, French black metal group Blut Aus Nord released their debut Ultima Thulée, which bandleader Vindsval composed in his mid-teens. While it resembles much of mid-’90s black metal with its bitterly cold sound and budget symphonic keyboards, it hinted at the expansive vision Vindsval would eventually wield as black metal’s dominating iconoclast. He is not a nostalgist, and even his more conventional works are made with an omnidirectiona...
Britain secures early access to promising vaccine candidates
The British government on Friday announced that it had secured early access to 90 million doses of two new promising vaccine candidates. British citizens will receive early access to 90 million doses of the two COVID-19 vaccine candidates should they prove safe and effective. By far, the British government has secured access to six different vaccine candidates as part of the government’s strategy to build a portfolio of promising new vaccines should any be found to be safe and effective. The government has also agreed in principle to co-fund a global clinical trial with the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson and Johnson to establish how effective their vaccine could be in providing long-term immunity against COVID-19. The next phase of Janssen’s clinical trials is expected to begi...
