September 2016 - Page 2 of 12

AN NCS PREMIERE: AUROCH — “SAY NOTHING”

Sep 282016

On October 21, Profound Lore will release the third album by Vancouver’s Auroch, which is named Mute Books. The album will be released in different formats, with each of them featuring differing artwork by Cold Poison connected to the different aspects of the album. On one of them, these words are visible: “Silentium est aureum” — the Latin source of the phrase “silence is golden”. And if there is a “title track” to the album, it is probably the one you are about to hear:”Say Nothing“.

These related phrases have meaning yet to be revealed, but the music itself is anything but quiet.

As the album’s title may correctly suggest to you, however, the songs are organized into “chapters”. Because this is music, you could also think of them as movements in an interconnected compositional narrative. The title of the first chapter is “Trefoil Is the Grail of Perdition“. It consists of three songs, all of which are connected to each other thematically and musically. Last month, DECIBEL premiered the second song in this first movement of the album, a track named “He Wreathes the Cross“, and “Say Nothing” is the third of those. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VORNA — “AALLOISTA”

Premieres 1 Response »

Sep 282016

Last fall we had the pleasure of premiering a full stream of an album called Ei valo minus seuraa (No Light Follows Me) by the six-man Finnish band Vorna. There was considerable diversity on that album, ranging from hard-charging gallops to solemn, atmospheric sagas, each one filled with drama and passion, each one a powerhouse of sound. Since then, Vorna have not been idle — and today we’re helping bring you a brand new Vorna song called “Aalloista“.

If you are familiar with that fine 2015 album by this band, you will notice a few changes of direction on the new single. Vorna’s lead vocalist Vesa Salovaara shared these thoughts about “Aaloista” and Vorna’s future endeavors: Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: MONOLITH WIELDER

Interviews No Responses »

Sep 282016

(Comrade Aleks conducted the following interview with Monolith Wielder, whose debut album will be released by Argonauta Records on October 17, 2016.)

Tight and powerful, Monolith Wielder breaks into the American doom stoner scene with their loud and savage debut full-length. Their riffs are overflowing with energy and fuzz, and they have enough enthusiasm to perform their songs at full capacity. Monolith Wielder was built on the stones of the Maryland doom scene and fed with Pittsburgh’s very soil; they know how to play it heavy and straightforward.

Break the Chains! Lift Your Eyes! And reach Illumination! Continue reading »

LITMUS TEST

Mosh Pit 26 Responses »

Sep 282016

I haven’t written about this subject in a while, but a recent private exchange of messages on Facebook got me thinking about it again. The subject concerns music created by bands (or at least parts of bands) who embrace Nazi ideology or other similar racist ideologies and beliefs.

These thoughts are my own, not necessarily those of anyone else associated with our site. The issue may come closer to my consciousness than other writers here because I tend to write more about underground black metal and certain offshoots of it, which have tended to be a more fertile breeding ground for this kind of thing than other metal genres. Continue reading »

“INTO THE DARKNESS”: A 2016 SAMPLER FROM REDEFINING DARKNESS AND SEEING RED

Free Shit 1 Response »

Sep 272016

Your humble editor hasn’t had time to assemble a round-up of new music since the weekend, but I thought I would at least alert you to this new sampler — because it’s FREE (though contributions are welcome), and because it includes some very good bands, many of whom we’ve posted about here at our putrid site.

The sampler’s name is Into The Darkness, and it was released yesterday by the sibling labels Redfining Darkness Records and Seeing Red Records, with artwork by Stephen Kasner. It includes a whopping 22 tracks. Most of those are extracted from albums that have already been released, but five come from forthcoming releases by Sentient Horror, Interitus , Ûngrûn, Curse of Denial, and old-school legends Decrepit, and there’s one by Maggot Twat that will be included in a reissue later this year.

Here’s the full line-up of bands: Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE: VPAAHSALBROX — “14 SOVEREIGN”

Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET 1 Response »

Sep 272016

More than a decade ago a Texas band named Vpaahsalbrox came together long enough to record a three-song demo labeled 14 Sovereign, and then disappeared into whatever hellish dimensions gave them birth, with its members later reborn in other obscure black metal incarnations such as Erraunt, Nivathe, Triphane, and Khimaat. Only 50 copies of the tape that captured the music were produced, yet it made a lasting impression in certain quarters — one strong enough that on the first of next month Pale Horse Recordings is going to re-issue 14 Sovereign on limited-edition vinyl as well as digitally.

The band’s confounding name is an expression in Enochian, a language recorded in the private journals of John Dee and his colleague Edward Kelley in late 16th-century England — the language of angels, given to Dee and Kelley by angels, or so they claimed. In Enochian, Vpaahsalbrox seems to mean “Lucifer’s Wings”. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: OSKOREIEN — “WITHOUT YOU I’M NOTHING”

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Sep 272016

On October 15, two very interesting and very talented one-man bands from California — Oskoreien and Botanist — will release an album-length split. The Oskoreien side is called Deterministic Chaos; the Botanist side is named Green Metal. Later this week we will be publishing a special guest review of the split, but what we have for you today is the premiere of one of Oskoreien’s two contributions on the split, “Without You I’m Nothing“.

Oskoreien is the alter ego of L.A.-based Jay Valena. This split is Oskoreien’s fourth release overall, with the last being a 2011 self-titled debut album. Along the way, Oskoreien’s music hasn’t followed a single, predictable path, instead reflecting variations in style and strategy. Of the two tracks on Deterministic Chaos, the title song is a 13-minute piece, and the one you’re about to hear is an unusual cover song. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VORNTH — “TRAVELLER OF THE DARK”

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Sep 272016

The bloodlines of metal are deep and varied. They’ve mixed and morphed in countless ways over more than 30 years, but some of the original strains have proved to be timeless — they haven’t lost their appeal, and they summon the primal force of evil, blood-pumping heavy metal in ways that more recent permutations have trouble matching. Vornth carry one of those primal strains in their own blood. Its purity hasn’t been diluted through interbreeding in the passage of time. Yet their music doesn’t sound worn out or too by-the-numbers. Instead, it sounds hot as hell.

Vornth come from Uddevalla, Sweden. Their self-titled debut album was released in 2013, and their second one — Black Pyres — will be released by Iron Tyrant on October 31. Today we’re bringing you the premiere of one of the new songs, “Traveller Of The Dark“. Continue reading »

IN THE COMPANY OF DEVILS — A RETURN TO SHADOW WOODS METAL FEST

Concert Reviews 9 Responses »

Sep 272016

(Last year we were fortunate to bring you a report from Kaptain Carbon on the first annual Shadow Woods Metal Festival , and now we are fortunate to welcome him back with his report on the second edition of the festival, which took place on September 15-18, 2016, in the vicinity of White Hall, Maryland. He also took the photos that you’ll see in this post. Kaptain Carbon operates Tape Wyrm, a blog dedicated to current and lesser-known heavy metal. He also writes Dungeon Synth reviews over at Hollywood Metal as well as moderating Reddit’s r/metal community.)

The Shadow Woods’ second event is an important step for a festival still attempting to set its roots and find an identity. Held in the woods of upper county Baltimore, Shadow Woods caters to a diverse array of acts, but with a concentration on extreme metal. With a festival’s life this young, its future is always in jeopardy and dependent on press, attendance, and overall happiness of its guests. There was some speculation and conjecture whether or not Shadow Woods would even have a second gathering. This was further jeopardized with the ongoing drama of alcohol licensing and the looming calculations of cost versus return.

By the time the campfire of the second night was winding down and shrieks were heard throughout the woods, immediately swallowed by hideous laughter, the number of people who attended this year were convinced that this may be a thing to do every year. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): EUFORI — “HUMÖRSVÄNGNINGAR”

Premieres 3 Responses »

Sep 262016

The name of Eufori’s new album — Humörsvängningar — is a mouthful of a tongue-twister for those of us who don’t speak Swedish or any other Scandinavian language. To understand how it is pronounced, you can hear the word spoken at this page. And if you were to google the word in an effort to understand its meaning in English, you would find definitions that refer to rapid or inexplicable “mood swings”, sometimes in the context of mental instability brought on by stress, drugs, problems sleeping, or disorders of various kinds.

Of course, you need not understand the album’s title in order to follow the sense of the music, but understanding it may lead to a deeper appreciation of what you will hear — and hear it you can, at the end of this post.

By the way, if you’re in a googling mood, you can also look up the word “eufori”, and will likely find that its English equivalent is “euphoria” — a strong feeling of happiness or intoxication. But don’t forget the name of the album…. Continue reading »

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