January ended four days ago, so it’s past time for our usual monthly round-up of news about forthcoming albums. I have to confess that this list is even more spotty and sporadically assembled than usual — which is saying something. Various distractions prevented me from keeping a sharp eye out for news about new releases, so I have no doubt this list is incomplete.

Here’s how this round-up usually works: In these METAL IN THE FORGE posts, I collect news blurbs and press releases I’ve seen over the last month about forthcoming new albums from bands we know and like at NCS (including occasional updates about releases we’ve included in previous installments of this series), or from bands that look interesting, even though we don’t know their music yet. In this series, I cut and paste those announcements and compile them in alphabetical order.

Remember — THIS ISN’T A CUMULATIVE LIST. If we found out about a new forthcoming album earlier than the last 30 days, we probably wrote about it in previous installments of this series. So, be sure to check the Category link called “Forthcoming Albums” on the right side of this page to see forecasted releases we reported earlier. For example, on this list you won’t see such notable releases as the forthcoming albums from Meshuggah, Enthroned, Unleashed, Psycroptic, Goatwhore, Asphyx, Naglfar, or Autopsy, because we’ve mentioned them elsewhere. Or at least I think we did.

Having said all that, please feel free to leave Comments and tell all of us what I missed when I put this list together. Let us know about albums on the way that  you’re stoked about, even if you don’t see them here!

7 HORNS 7 EYES: “Progressive, atmospheric, death-metallers 7 HORNS 7 EYES will be releasing their debut full-length album, Throes Of Absolution, on April 23rd, 2012 throughout Europe via Basick Records. Featuring a guest appearance by Jeff Loomis (ex-NEVERMORE) and already named one of Metal Sucks’ “Albums That Will Fuck Your Face Off In 2012”, this highly anticipated album has been many months in the making, but worth the wait!”

ANTIGAMA: “Warsaw, Poland’s revolutionary grind/metal assassins ANTIGAMA announce their return to Selfmadegod Records! Following two full-length releases via Relapse Records over recent years, ANTIGAMA have re-signed with their longtime friends at Selfmadegod and are currently locked away in Warsaw’s Progresja Studio with sound engineer Pawel “Janos” Grabowski. The band are in the process of recording several brand new tracks for two different upcoming releases — a 3-way split with Noisear (USA, Relapse) and  The Kill (Australia), as well as a MCD tentatively entitled Stop The Chaos. The session started on February 1st 2012, and final mixes and mastering duties will be completed by none other than the band’s long time friend and famous Polish music producer Szymon Czech (Nyia, Third Degree). Both releases are due this Spring via Selfmadegod Records, and plan on recording a new full-length for the label later in the year as well.”

BENEATH THE MASSACRE: “The lyric video for “Left Hand”, a new song from Montreal’s monsters of tech-death mayhem BENEATH THE MASSACRE, has been released. The track comes off the band’s new album, “Incongruous”, which will be released in the U.S. on February 14, in the U.K. on February 20, in mainland Europe on February 24 and in Canada on February 28 via Prosthetic Records. The CD was produced and mixed by Chris Donaldson (CRYPTOPSY) and mastered by Alan Douches (HATEBREED, SHADOWS FALL, CONVERGE).”

BORKNAGAR: “Norwegian avantgarde metallers BORKNAGAR have completed work on their new studio album with Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios (OPETH, PARADISE LOST, KATATONIA) in Örebro, Sweden. Entitled“Urd”, the CD will be released on March 26 in Europe and March 27 in North America via Century Media Records.”

CANNIBAL CORPSE: “Florida-based death metal veterans CANNIBAL CORPSE will release their twelfth studio album, “Torture”, on March 13 via Metal Blade Records. The follow-up to 2009′s “Evisceration Plague” offers up 12 tracks of maniacally precise, soul-searing death metal.”

DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT: From a DT Facebook post on Jan. 15: “Just finished writing track one for Z2! (Ziltoid 2) It’s about a year and half away now… scary! ”

ENSHADOWED: “Greek misanthropic blackmongers ENSHADOWED have inked a deal with Pulverised Records. Due later in the year, the band’s third full-length effort, entitled “Magic Chaos Psychedelia”, is “the ultimate combination of orthodox black metal with experimental grotesquery parts. Chaos, ritualism, paranoia — the formulas of how it can be harmonized with the chaos and the utter,” according to a press release.”

GENERAL SURGERY: “A Collection of Depravation, a compilation of 30 GENERAL SURGERYchoice cuts will see its official release via Relapse on March 27th and is available for pre-order now.  The collection was digitally remastered by Pig Destroyer’s Scott Hull and contains a 24 page booklet with extensive liner notes from the band.”

GOROD: “French progressive technical death metal act GOROD has officially joined the LISTENABLE RECORDS roster. Fall 2011 the band entered the studio with talented french metal producer Frederic “Elmobo” Motte. Their fourth full-length A Perfect Absolution will be released  in March 2012. The lyrical concept of this album is based on the history of Kievan Rus during the 10th century. Heavier, more progressive, catchy songs, awesome guest solos by Christian Muenzner (Obscura) and Mike Keene (The Faceless).”

HOODED MENACE: “Finnish death / doom bringers HOODED MENACE have entered the studio to record their highly anticipated new album and first for Relapse Records. The new record, entitled Effigies of Evil, is being self-recorded by the band at their very own Horrisound Studios, the group’s personal compound of stench and decay. Drums are being tracked at SF Sound and the band plans to complete recording in mid February for a Summer 2012 release.”

HOUR OF PENANCE: “Italian death metal band HOUR OF PENANCE has set “Sedition” as the title of its fifth album, due on March 27 in North America, April 2 in the U.K. and April 6 in mainland Europe via Prosthetic Records. The follow-up to 2010′s “Paradogma” (Unique Leader) was recorded at Cellar Studio in Rome with producer Stefano Morabito.”

IMPENDING DOOM: “IMPENDING DOOM will release their brand new full length album entitled Baptized in Filth on March 13, 2012. Produced by Andreas Magnusson (The Black Dahlia Murder) and Machine, this is the band’s fourth full length and most ferocious effort to date.”

KREATOR: “German thrash metal veterans KREATOR have set “Phantom Antichrist” as the title of their new album, due on June 1 in Europe and June 5 in North America via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD is currently being recorded at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden with renowned producer Jens Bogren (OPETH, KATATONIA, SOILWORK,DEVIN TOWNSEND, AMON AMARTH). ”

LECHEROUS NOCTURNE: “South Carolina-based extreme metal band LECHEROUS NOCTURNE has set “Behold Almighty Doctrine” as the title of its third album, due later in the year via Unique Leader Records. The CD was recorded at SoundLab Studio in Lexington, South Carolina with longtime engineer Bob Moore.”

MASTER: “Legendary death metallers MASTER have set “The New Elite” as the title of their eleventh album, due later in the year via Pulverised Records. The CD, which was once again recorded, mixed and mastered at Shaark Studios, contains “11 tracks of unambiguous death metal in its wretched form, in perfect coalition with the offensive Paul Speckmann-spewed lyrical shitstorm,” according to a press release.”

NEPHELIUM: “Nephelium, the Dubai death metallers whom now reside in Toronto, Canada are now exclusively streaming their highly anticipated debut album “Coils of Entropy” on MetalRecusants.com at the following link here. “Coils of Entropy” is set for release next week on Tuesday, February 7, 2012 and a free download of their first single “Merciless Annihilation” is available here.”

NIGHTFALL: “Greek metallers NIGHTFALL have commenced work on a new album for a late 2012 release. The follow-up to 2010′s “Astron Black And The Thirty Tyrants” will contain 11 tracks.”

OUTCAST: “Listenable Records has set April 4th, 2012 as the North American release date for Awaken the Reason, the third album from French brutal djent metal mongers OUTCAST. Awaken the Reason is the band’s strongest and most solid recording to date and it genuinely captured the band’s musical madness. Expect a modern sounding, yet organic production spiced up by a frenzy of extreme guitar and drums assaults. Awaken the Reason was recorded between January and September 2010 at The Artist The Office Studio. It was mixed at SplitSecond Sound Studio By Jochem Jacobs (Textures) in October /November 2010 and then mastered at West West Side Music by Alan Douches (Mastodon, Dillinger Escape Plan).”

PALLBEARER: ” By encompassing the more traditional metal style of their brand of doom, PALLBEARER’s sound takes cue from such legendary doom metal bands as Candlemass, Trouble, and Warning along with a ‘70s prog influence and some influence taken from “Gothic” era Paradise Lost that finds its way into the band’s epic yet sorrowful odes. PALLBEARER’s debut album Sorrow and Extinction will be released by Profound Lore on February 21 in the U.S. and February 28 in Europe.”

PELICAN: “Thunderous post-instrumental outfit PELICAN have announced the long awaited follow-up to their sprawling 2009 full length What We All Come To Need, a new four song EP Ataraxia/Taraxis to be released via Southern Lord on April 10. With members now residing in separate cities, the EP represents a new chapter in the band’s evolution with a reenergized focus on composition and the utilization of the recording studio as a creative tool in the songwriting process, yielding one of the most diverse efforts in the band’s prolific discography.”

PUTERAEON: “The Death Metal platoon, PUTERAEON, hailing from Sweden which released the incredibly acclaimed debut album “THE ESOTERIC ORDER” (Cyclone Empire) in January 2011, wants to inform you that they will lock themselves up in the studio “RZA Mobile Recording” on the 30th of January 2012. Together with sound engineer Kristian “Risza” Isaksson (Evergrey, Hardcore Superstar, Psycore, Reclusion, Notre Dame, Snowy Shaw) they will record the follow up entitled “CULT CTHULHU”. 
The album will have 11 tracks and, as the debut, will be mixed by none other than super guitarist Andy LaRocque (King Diamond, Death, At The Gates) at Sonic Train Studios and the album is planned to be released in May 2012 via the German label Cyclone Empire.”

SECRETS OF THE MOON: “Prophecy Productions has announced that SEVEN BELLS, the new SECRETS OF THE MOON album, will be out on March 16th, 2012.”

SIX FEET UNDER: “Florida-based death metallers SIX FEET UNDER are currently mixing their new album at Audiohammer studios in Sanford, Florida with producer Mark Lewis (THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, WHITECHAPEL, DEVILDRIVER, TRIVIUM). The band’s frontman, Chris Barnes, writes on Twitter, “The new SIX FEET UNDER CD is sounding fucking unbelievable!! [The] mix [is] almost done!!”

VEIL OF MAYA: “Chicago’s VEIL OF MAYA are back to lead the charge of the American progressive-deathcore assault, with the release of their mind-blowing third album, “Eclipse”, out via Sumerian on 27 February. Produced by djent hero Misha Mansoor of Periphery, ”Eclipse” is a stunningly concise yet diverse metal record, packed full of death-metal chops, tech-metal grooves, progressive arrangements and hardcore rip-yer-throat-out attitude.”

WRETCHED: “Wretched has entered the studio to record their third full-length album, Son of Perdition.  The forthcoming effort is set for a March 27 release and will be produced by Jamie King (Between The Buried And Me, He Is Legend, For Today) at The Basement Studio in Winston Salem, North Carolina.”

WYKKED WYTCH: “Female-fronted extreme metal band WYKKED WYTCH and Goomba Music have teamed up with HailsandHorns.com for an exclusive premier of the song “Despised Existence” off the band’s forthcoming album. The Ultimate Deception. The Ultimate Deception is set to be released on February 14th and is currently available for pre-order through Goomba Music.”

I was a relatively late-coming fan of Sweden’s Naglfar, discovering them through their 2007 release, Harvest, but I’m now solidly in their camp. Their skillful intertwining of melodic black metal and death metal elements creates music that is both memorable and viciously scathing.

I’m happy to report that as of today, we now have more details about their next album on Century Media, Téras. First, we have the album’s killer cover art by Niklas Sundin (Dark Tranquillity), who has previously designed artwork for bands such as In Flames, Arch Enemy, and At the Gates.

Second, we have specific release dates: March 26th in Europe and March 27th in North America. Third, we have a track list:

1. Téras
2. Pale Horse
3. III: Death Dimension Phantasma
4. The Monolith
5. An Extension Of His Arm And Will
6. Bring Out Your Dead
7. Come Perdition
8. Invoc(H)ate
9. The Dying Flame Of Existence

Since Naglfar and this album cover are on my mind, I decided to collect all of their previous album covers, which are equally eye-catching. That’s after the jump, along with a replay of the first song from Téras.

Here’s the song (previously featured at NCS here). The album art collection follows it.

For anyone who thinks we’ve been insufficiently faithful to the name of this site in recent days, I have a few things for you this weekend that will set you straight.

As record labels go, I think Throatruiner has to be a short-listed finalist for best label name ever. They have also been putting out some tasty releases, if your taste runs to unstructured violence. Take this one for example. It’s a three-way split with international flavor. The three bands are as follows:

AS WE DRAW •• Described as a French “post-metal” band, their contributions to this split follow up their 2010 album, Lines Breaking Circles. Throatruiner recommends them to fans of Ken Mode, Breach, and Old Man Gloom.

EUGLENA •• A Russian band whose preceding release was an EP called An Anxious Surface. Throatruiner compares their music to that of Buried Inside, Plebeian Grandstand, and Botch.

HEXIS •• This is a Danish band that slathers together hardcore, black metal, and sludge. By coincidence, they were recommended in a recent NCS comment by Old Man Windbreaker.  Before contributing to this split, they released a self-titled EP and then a full-length album called XI that debuted last year. Throatruiner recommends them to fans of Celeste, Crowpath, and Blut Aus Nord.

Each of these three bands contributed two songs to the split. I have some quick reactions to them them after the jump, along with a stream of the whole split — which can be downloaded for free or for any price you think is fair.

As We Draw – The two cuts from this band — “Fingers To Point” and “Fingers To Stab” — have a distorted, thick, sludgy undercurrent pierced by shrill feedback and shrieking screamo vocals. The music is marked by variable tempos, unpredictable riffs, surprising melodies, and a pervasively bleak/unhinged atmosphere. They remind me a bit of their countrymen Eryn Non Dae. Discomforting and violent, but cool.

“Fingers To Point”

“Fingers To Stab”

Euglena – This band’s songs, “Before After/After the Before” and “Renaissance”, are similar in some respects to those from As We Draw: similar sludgy distortion in the heavy low end (except even more fuzzed-out), similar vein explosion in the vocals. But Euglena have an even more pronounced take-no-prisoners approach — the music relies more on feedback than melody. In fact, the first half of “Before After/After the Before” runs at the pace of cold tar, with one wave of ugly feedback after another and very little structure. The second half accelerates and gains shape, but without losing one bit of ugliness. Extreme, fucked up shit. You could bang your head to some of this if it weren’t already clamped in a crushing vice.

“Before After/After the Before”

“Renaissance”

Hexis: Based on the description by Throatruiner and Old Man Windbreaker, this was the band who most intrigued me. I stayed intrigued by the music. “Crux” is the longer of the two songs at more than six minutes, and it embodies Hexis’ fusion of styles: veering from blast-beats and cauterizing riffs to glacially slow sludge with funeral-doom style drumming. The whole thing is shot through with massive distortion and the same kind of I’ll-eat-your-face berzerker vocals as the first two bands deliver.

“Nex” clocks in at less than 2 1/2 minutes, and it’s a scary, misanthropic, blackened (or blacked-out) explosion of demonic turmoil.

“Crux”

“Nex”

Now, here are download links for the split:

[DOWNLOAD FROM BANDCAMP] • [DIRECT DOWNLOAD FROM MEDIAFIRE]

Who are we to ignore such a command?

Some things never lose their awesomeness with the passage of time. Besides, lacking anything new from these French titans, we must make do.

Gojira – Vacuity from Julien Mokrani on Vimeo.

Dan Seagrave is a god among men, at least when it comes to pens, pencils, and paint. I’ve slobbered over his artwork before — for example, in this review of Wretched’s Beyond the Gate in 2010, which included many examples of his album art at the end. But I got a fresh reminder this morning when Rev. Will sent me a link to that stunner up above.

I had to do some net sleuthing to find out what it was. Turns out it’s the cover art to a 2011 album called Facet of Aberration by a thrash band from the Bay Area called Invection. I hadn’t heard of them before, but I’m throwing in some of their music after the jump.

As for Mr. Seagrave’s artwork, there’s a fan-sponsored page on Facebook, the creator of which has been adding album art — without any band logos or album titles to obscure the sheer brutal goodness of the artwork. As of a few minutes ago, that page included 65 pieces of album art. You can gaze upon all of that via this link. And after the jump, you can see a few more examples I haven’t previously posted at NCS.

Dan Seagrave has a merch store here and a personal Facebook page here.

Before we get to the Invection music and more of Master Seagrave’s art, here’s a Seagrave painting that isn’t an album cover but is gobsmackingly good. It’s from the “Temple Series” and is called “Drive By”.

Next . . . music from Invection’s album, which is being sold as a CD here.

“Impulsive Violence”

“Derealization”

“Two Faced Lie”

And finally . . . more Seagrave album covers. Hover your mouse over the images to see the names of the albums.

(grover XIII reviews the new album from Olympia, Washington’s Christian Mistress, which will be released by Relapse Records on February 28.)

“Everything old is new again.” Although the source of that quote is not at all metal (it comes from All That Jazz, which I admittedly did not know prior to a Google search), it certainly is applicable to the current metal scene. Within the last several years, revival of metal’s roots has been sweeping across the musical landscape, from thrash to death metal to doom to NWOBHM, with varying levels of success depending on the band. Christian Mistress fall into that last category, and the Olympia-based 5-piece have been making waves with their decidedly retro sound.

It really started with a shout-out by Darkthrone’s Fenriz, who said of the band, “They play heavy metal the old way, the exact way we enjoy it ourselves.” From there, the band’s initial full-length Agony & Opium (if you can call it that, given that it was six tracks and 27 minutes long) took off, earning a lot of well-deserved notice with its classic metal riffing and the soulful (clean, in total violation of this website’s name) vocals of frontwoman Christine Davis.

It is primarily on the strength of Agony & Opium (and to a lesser extent, a demo and a single from 2009) that Christian Mistress’ second full-length, Possession, has been garnering an impressive amount of hype for a relatively unknown band. Happily, I am here to say that Possession lives up to that hype.

The biggest change here is in the production, which is just a tad clearer and more expansive than on the band’s previous releases, but still retains the fuzzy, dirty feel that helps to cement Christian Mistress’ sound. The drums are a bit better defined, but there’s still a nice mix of guitars, bass, drums, and vocals, with no one instrument drowning out any of the others. The guitars of Ryan McClain and Oscar Sparbel lock in step on the riffs and duel on the solos over the solid rhythm section of bassist Johnny Wulf and drummer Reuben Storey, but Davis’ vocals are what truly set the band apart.

Davis may not have the most nuanced, versatile voice in the world. She probably wouldn’t make it past the preliminary tryouts for American Idol, much less go anywhere on the show. However, she packs a punch, and as it turns out, her voice is a perfect fit for Christian Mistress’ music. She’s got a bit of a roughness to her voice, putting her somewhere between Jex Thoth, and that chick that sang ‘Black Velvet’ while sounding like neither. It’s not really something that you can easily quantify, but it’s safe to say that Christian Mistress would not sound the same with a different singer.

Musically speaking, Possession doesn’t deviate much from the blueprint. There’s a bit more of a focus on guitar solos this time around, and they do change things up a bit, like with the doomy intro to the title track, or the use of acoustic guitar at the beginning of ‘The Way Beyond’, but Christian Mistress never stray too far from the path set forth by those bands that came before, and it’s to their credit that they have no trouble keeping things interesting anyway, as McClain and Sparbel draw upon a seemingly bottomless well of immediately memorable riffs. Possession is a solid and engaging listen from start to finish, a throwback to a simpler era in metal’s history, and one of the best albums of the year thus far. To miss it would be to do yourself a great disservice.

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EDITOR’S NOTE:  Possession will be released by Relapse on February 28. The album can be pre-ordered at the Christian Mistress Bandcamp page HERE. The band’s official site is at this location.

Here are two tracks from the album; the first is available for free download.

As an early fan of Sweden’s The Haunted, I was deeply disappointed by their seventh studio album, Unseen, released last year. Andy Synn loved the album, though he admitted in his review that it was a true “grower” and not without its flaws. I’m afraid it didn’t grow on me. Though it had its moments, it seemed instead like another milepost in the decline of a once invigorating band.

In a curious turn of events, yesterday The Haunted released a previously unreleased video for the song “99″ from their 2004 album, rEVOLVEr, which happens to be the last album from the band I really enjoyed. It’s a montage of live performance clips shot during the summer of 2004 at Stengade in Copenhagen and at the Swedish Rock Festival.

Why was it released only now? Could it be that the band felt the need to remind fans of an earlier time when their music meant more to metalheads than it seems to mean today?  Or maybe that’s just my own prejudice coming through. I do know that it sure as fuck reminded me of why I used to await their albums with eagerness. The song is a headbanger, and the video rocks hard. Be reminded after the jump.

And if you think I’m full of shit either (a) because I liked anything by The Haunted that post-dates Made Me Do It, or (b) because Unseen turned me sour, feel free to leave a comment. Just don’t use the word “shit”, because we frown on bad language here.

We’re as proud as a three-balled tomcat to bring you this very special NCS interview, conducted by e-mail. The victim was Sven De Caluwe, the frontman of Aborted, System Divide, and grindcore trio Bent Sea (which also includes Dirk Verbeuren and Devin Townsend). In part because of his well-known demented sense of humor, we decided to tag-team him with an interviewing duo of Andy Synn and Phro — both of whom also wrote reviews for NCS of Aborted’s ass-ripping new album, Global Flatline (here and here), which is out now on Century Media Records.

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Phro: Global Flatline. Holy fuck. This album impregnated my ears, impaled the aural baby with a clothes hanger, and roasted it over an open flame. This album was originally slated for a 2011 release . . . WHY DID IT TAKE SO FUCKING LONG???

We were too busy jerking off for the past 2 years. As you can imagine, the fine art of auto felatio can take up quite some time. In all honesty it took this long because we wanted to take our time to come up with the best album we could and not rush things out like we have on some past records.

Andy: So first off, can you give us some of the themes behind the title Global Flatline? (the less obvious ones I mean, more what it means to you personally).

As you can tell, it deals with the end of man through man. Different probable causes are taken on topics through the album, such as extremists and religion, drug abuse, social apathy and whatever else causes mankind to show its fantastic attributes to the world—and oh yes, let’s not forget feces. The album talks about feces too.

Phro:  Aborted was one of the first death metal bands I got into. (I believe Archaic Abattoir was the album.) I’ve loved all of your albums I’ve gotten so far, even Strychnine.213 which was not all that well received by many in the metal community. Did you go into the studio with that in the back of your mind? Did that prompt the massive line up changes? How do you feel about the album? What is its place in the Aborted oeuvre?

Why thank ya! As far as Strychnine goes, I would say it’s not really a terrible album but it’s not really an Aborted album perhaps. I don’t mind flirtations with more melodic elements and more modern elements as well, but this just took it a step too far, in retrospect, and also toned down the intensity too much. Aborted has always been a band that is to me about intensity and energy, combining brutality with groove, and that record just didn’t have the “rage” other albums had. If that makes sense. The line-up changes didn’t really occur because of the criticism about the album. It was due to clashes of which direction to take, personal issues and just unrealistic expectations from band members.

Andy:  What are some of your personal favourite songs on the record, with regards to their lyrics, etc?

That’s a tough one, but if I had to choose, it would have to be “The Origin of Disease”, “Global Flatline”, “Expurgation Euphoria” and “Fecal Forgery” (the latter for just being fun and catchy haha).

Phro: How much of the lyrics did your wife help you write? Also, how does she feel about songs like “Nailed Through Her Cunt”?

None, and she’s fine with a song that an old guitarist wrote about 11 years ago haha.

Andy:  Speaking of “Nailed Through Her Cunt”, what was the motivation behind re-recording the song?

We actually re-recorded two songs, “Eructations of Carnal Artistry” also got re-done for the occasion. The reason was we wanted to have some cool bonus material, and the album had its 10^th anniversary in 2011, so it seemed like the perfect way to give a tribute to that album and the people that helped to create the album– as well as being a nicer bonus to the fans of the band, instead of some random covers.

Phro:  Any ideas on what to do with bodies after they start rotting? I think I read somewhere that lime doesn’t help much, and I can’t find any acid, so…

Cut it up and sell it to the closest kebab place.

Andy:  How did you hook up with the various guest vocalists?

Well, we went through all the official stages of courtsmanship: sent them flowers, asked their parents if they were cool to go out and shit. That, and since we have all been friends for forever, just sent them an email and they were excited to get involved with this slab of bwootal death metal!

Andy:  And was there anyone you wanted to get but couldn’t?

Scarlett Johansson, but that’s beside the point.

Phro:  I just realized that Aborted has been around since 1995. If Aborted were a human, it’d be allowed to drive, join the military, and get married in the United States. It’d also be about to graduate high school and go to college. Give us some good boozing and drug tips.

Kill yourself, murder the world.

Andy:  Samples have always been a big part of setting the mood and tone for Aborted, so I’d like to know what are your favourite samples off the new record?

Ummm, I think my absolute favorite would have to be the one in “Global Flatline” that really sets the tone: “I’m going to rape your fucking soul”. Hahah it just fits perfectly and is hilarious. Other than that, the samples on “Endstille” worked out pretty creepy, and I always have to smile at the Human Centipede samples on “Fecal Forgery” haha.

Phro:  Have you ever considered some chick flick sound clips in the songs, instead of horror movie stuff? Just to mix things up a little? I think it would have worked well for “Nailed Through Her Cunt”.

It surely would have, and I would have picked What Women Want with Mel Gibson, not only for the irony that it’s with Mel Gibson, but that movie altogether is an abomination to man.

Andy:  How is the new line-up gelling? I’m aware of Ken Bedene for example from his phenomenal drumming with Abigail Williams. He’s a great catch after Dirk was unable to commit the necessary time.

Yeah, I mean Ken has been with us for over two years now, he joined right when Coronary came out. Things have been great, everyone is a great musician and has been working hard to get everything worked out with the record– so here’s to hoping!

Phro: If you were gay, what male celebrity would you stalk, kill and masturbate all over? (I’d go with Brad Pitt, personally.)

Brad Pitt is a good choice, no homo.

Andy:  What does the rest of the year hold for Aborted? I’m looking forward to your UK tour with Decapitated that’s coming up shortly.

The year looks goddamn busy so far! First off, we are going to Brazil with Exhumed in a few weeks, then UK with Decapitated and Neurotic Death Fest, then some headline release shows in Europe, followed by some festivals. After that, we are going to tour the US in April/May, then back to Europe for more festivals, then back to the US, then I am going to shoot myself in the asshole.

Phro:  What’s the best alcohol from Belgium? (Beer or otherwise.) My girlfriend wants to know what the best chocolate in Belgium is, too.

I would go with Delirium Tremens, Leffe and Duvel for beer. Wortegemsen Jenever for liquor and best chocolate is Callebout.

Andy:  People might not be as aware, but you actually do a lot of art/design work for various bands (including Aborted) – is there any work you’re particularly proud of you might want to showcase to our readers?

Umm, well I haven’t been able to do much of that lately due to the busy schedule and my dayjob, but I did  a ton of that stuff through the years. The latest thing I did was Benighted’s Asylum Cave (which turned out great), some merch for The Black Dahlia Murder, Whitechapel, Kataklysm and Neuraxis.

Phro:  Fuck dubstep! (Why?)

Keep that garbage out of my metal.

Andy:  You’ve been instrumental in working with several bands besides Aborted (In-Quest, Leng Tch’e and currently System Divide).  Do you have any other projects lined up or is Aborted simply taking up too much of your time these days (not that that’s a bad thing)?

These days, it’s all Aborted and System Divide. I have a grindcore project with Dirk Verbeuren and Devin Townsend called Bent Sea, and I’m working on another grind project with our ex-bass player JB called Razorgrind.

Phro: Word association time!

Penis . . .? I have one

Tentacles . . .? Sexy

Balls . . .? Big ‘n sweaty

Anus . . .? Poopoo

Cum-covered shitstains . . .? Disturbing

Doctors . . .? Overpriced assholes

Andy:  Last question (from me at least) are there any bands out there you think our readers should check out, or any bands you’re particularly hoping to play with this year?

Yes, check out Benighted, a brutal death metal band from France. They released a killer album last year. Besides that, I really enjoy Dyscarnate and Fleshgod Apocalypse lately.

Phro: I was at a metal show in a really rural area of Japan, wearing an Aborted t-shirt. The singer for one of the bands immediately recognized it and we had a nice, brief chat. Do you think metal can cross international boundaries and bring us all together into one big incestious family? If so, what kind of lube do you all use?

Absolutely, it’s a cultural phenomenon that brings people together, much like love and Britney Spears! No lube, you go raw, doawg!

Phro:  According to Encyclopedia Metallum, you now live in Isreal. How is it? Can I crash at your place if I visit?

It’s pretty cool, pretty warm most of the time, and there is a good sense of social life and partying…If you don’t smell like shit and clean after yourself, sure!

Phro:  Once more, I just have to say that Global Flatline is fucking awesome. Any final comments you’d like to leave us with?

Thank you very much, dear sir! Please buy the album and then kill everyone before killing yourselves, thanks!
 

Another ugly duckling has left the nest, venturing into the cold, cruel outside world to spread its wings. An NCS reader, commenter, and e-mailer of reliable tips on metal news and new music who I’ll call Ben C. has gone off and started his own blog with the thoroughly awesome name of: CHURCH OF THE RIFF.

In Ben’s words, the musical focus of the new blog is “oriented around big manly ball-swagger riff rock”, though I’m sure Ben will be most welcoming to both non-balled and balled readers as long as they’re interested in “face melting and skin blasting” — in other words, readers with good taste in metal.

The blog went live yesterday with three posts. They’ll give you a further idea about the musical direction of the blog. Their subjects are these three bands: Whores, Barn Burner, and Graveyard. I especially liked the title of the second post: “Barn Burner: If Iron Maiden Drank More Beer, Smoked More Weed and Ate More Poutine.”

I also liked the fact that Ben created this tag for the post about Whores: motherfucking. I wish I had thought of that. He also has tags for beer and bongs. All these words will come in handy when searching Church of the Riff for music in future months.

Please show Ben some love. Go visit Church of the Riff today and leave the kind of ridiculous comments you post here at NCS.

I can’t vouch for the accuracy or authenticity of this review. I did write it, but I wasn’t exactly in my right mind when I listened to the album or when I wrote the review, due to a combination of feverish illness and the effects of heavy medication. All I can say is that I’m writing what I’m feeling at the moment. Maybe it only goes as far as a recommendation for the feverish and/or drug-altered listeners in the audience, and everyone else will have to make up his or her own mind.

The Tacoma Narrows Bridge is a twin suspension bridge that crosses Puget Sound south of where I live, connecting the city of Tacoma to the Kitsap Peninsula. It opened to traffic on July 1, 1940, as a single suspension bridge, the third longest suspension bridge in the world at that time. Only four months later, on the morning of November 7, it collapsed under high wind conditions. The collapse was caught on film, and the sight of a large concrete and steel structure twisting like a rubber band is still a freaky thing to watch. The bridge was replaced 10 years later, but the collapse still resonates as an example of man-made creations succumbing to the power of nature.

Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster is also the name taken by five-man band from London, who came together in 2008 with the aim of creating “epic soundtracks for terrible events”. Yesterday, they released their second album, Exegesis. Composed of eight largely instrumental songs, most of them lengthy (with more than an hour of total run-time), the album is itself like a fever dream, which may be why it affected me so powerfully.

The music is driven by often intricate, crossing waves of guitar and creative percussion that alternately hypnotize with repeating rhythms and then explode in displays of fiery extravagance. The music has a heavy, sludgy low end and a near-pervasively ominous atmosphere, yet it’s infused with often anthemic melodies that embed themselves so firmly in the mind that the music continues to reverberate in the consciousness long after the sound has ceased.

The guitar tones are unusually multifaceted, varying from stoner chugging to tremolo’d whining to echoing chimes to piercing, needle-like jets of molten shred, and more. Listening to the complex interplay between the guitars, the very-present, beautifully played bass, and the constantly shifting drum progressions is a consistently mesmerizing (and occasionally harrowing) experience. Sometimes the songs carry you gently like a swelling tide under a starlit sky, and sometimes they flare with the intensity and power of meteors burning through the atmosphere.

And do allow me to repeat myself so there’s no misunderstanding: The music is as powerfully infectious as it is effective at creating and changing emotional mood. You can get a good headbang going in almost every song, and in almost every song you can also just drift away in a hypnotic daze, easily recalling the melodies and the rhythms as your brain later replays them of its own accord.

Vocals appear in only half the songs — “Exegesis”, “Black Iron Prison”, “Sungazer”, and very briefly on “Wake”. They’re clear and strong, ranging from an almost ghostly exhalation to a ringing wail. And yes, it’s clean singing. I may not prefer that in metal, but I do know a good voice when I hear one. And although the music of this band isn’t nearly as raw, vicious, or filthy as most music I enjoy, it did hit me in the right place at the right time.

Part doom, part sludge, part stoner, part post-rock, Exegesis is all win. It’s a marriage of inspired songwriting, highly skilled performance, and close-to-perfect production engineering. I was somewhat disappointed by the relatively short, electronica-injected interlude of “Going Out Like Lights On A Switchboard”, but that may have only been by comparison to the strength of everything else. Though almost all the songs are true stand-outs, this one is probably my favorite. Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.

“Exegesis”

If you like that, you owe it to yourself to stream the entire album at TNBD’s Bandcamp page HERE, and then buy it. Along with the digital download, you get hi-res versions of some very cool album art, and I can’t resist sharing some of it with you next. Also, if you’re interested in seeing the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in 1940, the video of that follows the artwork. You can find TNBD on Facebook here.