Jan 272015
 

(TheMadIsraeli reviews the new album by the UK/Ireland band Shattered Skies.)

I was rabidly a fan of Shattered Skies’ debut EP Reanimation back in 2011. Their odd djent-meets-heavier-power-metal like Symphony X and Evergrey style made them really stick out to me. I’ve waited FOREVER for these guys to put out a full-length, and I was honestly wondering if they ever would. The World We Used To Know completely blew away my expectations for a debut from them, and it’s a definite surprise first highlight of 2015.

The grooves on this record are like getting hit by concrete-filled boxing gloves, but it’s all punctuated by some absolutely angelic, infectious, and overwhelming vocal melodies, along with stellar keyboard and string incorporations. Continue reading »

Jan 272015
 


Dominanz 2014 – photo by Monika Kaczynska

(In this post Evita Hofmane of the Latvian e-zine P3LICAN interviewed members of the Norwegian black metal band Dominanz, whose new album Noxious can be streamed at the end of the interview.)

Dominanz is a modern and a hellishly powerful band hailing from Norway, a land with a tradition of extremity in its music styles. Therefore, this band could be no exception, but Dominanz have enriched their sound even more. The band members basically come from the Black Metal scene (Hades Almighty, Immortal, Taake, Thy Grief).

In late 2010 Dominanz presented “The End of All There Is”. “The End Of All There Is” was the title track of Dominanz ‘s first single, released on October 25, 2010. On August 2011 Dominanz debuted with their critically acclaimed first album As I Shine. Continue reading »

Jan 272015
 

 

We have the great pleasure of premiering for you a full stream of an extended split release by four very talented northeastern U.S. bands, an album-length work entitled Northeastern Hymns that has quickly become one of my favorite releases of 2015.

Three of the bands — Obsidian Tongue, In Human Form, and Infera Bruo — make their homes in Massachusetts, while the fourth — Autolatry — hail from Connecticut. In each case, these long songs mark the bands’ first recorded output since albums that appeared in 2013. In each case, there is a connection to the genre of black metal, but other musical elements are more dominant. And together, they provide a tremendously multi-faceted and tremendously engaging array of musical creativity and instrumental talent. Continue reading »

Jan 262015
 

 

I’m afraid I haven’t had much time to round up new music for today. My fucking day job has again carried me across the continent to the east coast where I’ll be working days and nights from now through February 8. As a result, there will be many days between now and then when there will be less content on the site than usual.

I would also like to mention that as I write this it is 13°F where I am, with a winter storm warning in effect and blizzard conditions predicted beginning this afternoon. I know this will not impress many of our readers who are used to this kind of thing, but for me I would like to say FUCK THIS SHIT.

KATAVASIA

Although I’ve had little time to myself this past weekend, I did listen to a couple of new things, beginning with a fantastic discovery named Katavasia. Continue reading »

Jan 252015
 

We now come to Part 25 of our list of 2014′s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs. For more details about what this list is all about and how it was compiled, read the introductory post via this link. For the other songs we’ve previously named to the list, go here.

I could go on at length about both of the songs I’m adding to the list today, because to me the way in which each song is constructed and the musical ingredients the bands folded into them make the songs as interesting as they are catchy — and they are both very catchy. But I’ll hold my verbiage to a minimum and let the music speak for itself.

MACHINE HEAD

A lot of bands would have been quite happy to end “Now We Die” at about the three-and-a-half minute mark, and it would have been a fine, hard-rocking, heavy-grooved piece of business without anything more. But this is Machine Head and of course they weren’t about to stop. Continue reading »

Jan 232015
 

For those of you (if any) who’ve been following this series like bloodhounds on a fox’s trail, you will have noticed that I missed adding entries for the last two days. I was more distracted than usual (usually I’m distracted by things like passing cars and the need to chase them), but let’s forget about the explanations and just forge ahead.

For more details about what this list is all about and how it was compiled, read the introductory post via this link. For the other songs we’ve previously named to the list, go here.

TRIPTYKON

The next song I’m adding to the list is “Aurorae” from Triptykon’s Melana Chasmata. I’m adding it not just because of the gripping drum beats or the gravelly riffs or the lead guitar chimes or the transfixing solo or the transfixing vocals or the vivid atmosphere of the song. In addition to all that, in addition to the music’s infectiousness, there’s this: Continue reading »

Jan 232015
 

(We have one more late addition to our LISTMANIA 2014 series — Andy Synn’s personal list of the Top 10 songs of 2014.)

So it turns out I’m not quite done making lists. Who’d have thought? (Answer: anyone who’s been paying the slightest bit of attention over the last couple of years… but I digress…)

This time around I’ve chosen my favourite single songs of last year, with little regard from the actual albums they come from, or the genre they represent. It’s just a selection of tracks which, for whatever reason, helped to define 2014 for me personally.

There’s an almost distressing lack of outright brutality on the list this time around as well… maybe it means I’m mellowing in my old age? Or that last year was a surprisingly un-brutal year? Or… and this is just a possibility… maybe it’s just a complete coincidence. Continue reading »

Jan 232015
 

 

(In this post Austin Weber reviews the new release by Finland’s Devouring Star, which is available now from Daemon Worship.)

When I first wrote about Devouring Star here at NCS last year, they were a newly formed act who drew my attention with a incredibly dense and chilling demo of unnerving and chaotic black metal. After my first post about them, they hooked up with Daemon Worship Productions for the release of a new album entitled Through Lung And Heart. and we were fortunate to premiere the track “Decayed Son Of Earth” last November (here). Coincidentally, NCS writer Badwolf likewise premiered another track off it, “To Traverse The Black Flame”, over at Invisible Oranges where he is currently that site’s editor.

For those still unfamiliar with Devouring Star, they are a Finnish act that draw a sizable influence from the stylings and form of black metal that Deathspell Omega founded. However, I would venture to say the inspiration has more to do with informing the sonic ingredients that Devouring Star use in their compositions than sounding like a copycat act or watered-down hero worship. Continue reading »

Jan 232015
 

Well, the last time I did what I’m about to do, I had breaking news and new music concerning 18 bands that all became public in a single day. That was two days ago. And now I’ve got a collection of song streams and videos from 19 bands that I spotted since I wrote that last post, all of which I think are worth recommending.

Most of what’s in here is brand new; a few of songs are simply new to me. Once again, because this collection is so overstuffed, I’m presenting what I found with a minimum of commentary… in alphabetical order by band name. Continue reading »

Jan 232015
 

 

Graveyard After Graveyard combines the talents of Jocke Ringdahl (ex-Paganizer, Sinners Burn) on drums; the ubiquitous Rogga Johansson (Paganizer, Ribspreader, etc.) on guitar, bass, and vocals; and Mika Lagreen (ex-Facebreaker, Grave) on lead guitars and solos. They released a self-titled EP in 2014 and then a debut album last year as well — Bagged and Dragged To A Fullmoon Burial.

But Graveyard After Graveyard have written so many songs that another new release is already on the way. Soon, Chaos Records will be releasing another EP by the band entitled Hellhound On My Trail, from which we are delighted to premiere a track named “Out To Feed”.

There’s a lot of death metal pedigree in those names listed above, but “Out To Feed” goes off in a different direction, albeit one that’s no less nasty and extreme. Continue reading »