BENEATH THE MASSACRE: “FEARMONGER”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
Feb 172020
 

 

(Here we present Andy Synn‘s review of the long-awaited new album by Beneath the Massacre from Montreal, Quebec.)

Sometimes it’s hard to put into words exactly why certain bands “click” with you and others don’t.

And, before anyone chimes in with “but Andy, isn’t your whole job here putting things like that into words?” let me say… shut up, I’m not finished.

It’s particularly difficult at the more Brutal/Extreme/Technical end of the spectrum, where the “everything turned up to 11” approach of the bands means that the differences between them are, more often than not, more of a matter of gradient and nuance.

Can I tell you exactly why I find Wormed so ridiculously fun to listen to, while I find Brain Drill to be just ridiculous? Can I explain exactly why I can listen to Hideous Divinity over and over, but repeated exposure to Origin often just leaves me cold? Not easily, no.

But I can tell you just why I love Beneath the Massacre, and their new album, Fearmonger, so much. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEART ON A SATURDAY: BENEATH THE MASSACRE, AHNA, THOKKIAN VORTEX, MEGATHERIUM, THE OUTSIDER, DAMIAN MASTER

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Feb 152020
 

 

Six songs and videos yesterday, tracks from six more bands today. If I can manage six more tomorrow, we’ll have a sequence that marks that bestial number so near and dear to the hearts of metal fans. It’s good to have goals.

BENEATH THE MASSACRE

My, my, has it really been eight years since the last Beneath the Massacre album? Such a lot has happened in the world at large and in the narrower world of extreme metal in all those years. What has this Montréal band been up to in the meantime, and more importantly, what has happened to their musical proclivities? We are learning the answers now, as the clock ticks down to the release of their new album Fearmonger on February 28th, almost exactly eight years after Incongruous. Continue reading »

2012 METAL IN THE FORGE (PART 2)

 Forthcoming Albums  35 Responses »
Feb 042012
 

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! Continue reading »

ROULETTE

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Jan 142012
 

That’s what this post is — just a spin of the metal roulette wheel. The tiny ball (otherwise known as my brain) skitters and bounces around and eventually comes to rest in a slot, and then we spin again. Four slots, four bands, new and old, picked at random based on newly available music, but recommended by my tiny, ball-like brain.

BREACH

I first heard mention of this band in the list of albums recommended by Mika Andre (Eryn Non Dae.) as part of our 2011 year-end Listmania. Mika’s list included an album called The Tunnels by a band called Terra Tenebrosa (which, by the way, has been wrecking my sanity ever since). Mika mentioned that Terra Tenebrosa was a projected started by some guys from a Swedish band called Breach.

Then, last night, I saw that a 2002 EP by Breach called Godbox was being re-released in re-mastered form on vinyl by Apocaplexy Records. Apocaplexy gave this description of the music:

“It starts with weird noises and woman screaming. The drums kick in, this gnarly bass, this groove, these melodies. Audible darkness, 98% darker than most Black Metal bands claim to be. The important thing: This is unique, untouched by cliches, timeless . . .This swedish band which lacked brighter attention in their days because everybody rather focused on Refused. This band people compared with Neurosis because yet again it just lacks comparison. It’s more than hardcore, more than metal, more than any other box you want to put this in.” Continue reading »

MORE 2010 SICKNESS (Part 7)

 Forthcoming Albums, Listmania, Metal News  No Responses »
Jul 312010
 

My, how time flies. Another month is in the history books. However much time you have on earth, you now have 31 days less of it since since the last installment of this post. Drink up!

But have no fear. You’re headed for a better place. That’s right, basically the same existence you had a month ago, but with more new metal ahead of you. Drink up!

And all those physical processes that are inexorably decaying your bodies on the rocky road to your demise, they’re still there and they’re still working on you like termites that have found a rotting log. But hey, you can still bang your head, so . . . Drink up!

Yes, we’re now a full seven months into 2010, and so it’s time for another monthly update to the list of forthcoming new albums we first posted on January 1. (All the other updates can be found via the “Forthcoming Albums” category link on the right side of our pages.) Below is a list of still more projected new releases we didn’t know about at the time of our previous updates, or updated info about some of the previously noted releases.

Once again, we’ve cobbled together news blurbs about bands whose past work we’ve liked, or who look interesting for other reasons. Perhaps needless to say, these are bands that mostly fit the profile of music we cover on this site — the kind that would like to tear your head off.

So, in alphabetical order, here’s our list of cut-and-pasted items from various sources since our last update about forthcoming new releases. Look for the bands you like and put reminders on your calendar. Or if you’re like us, just stick post-it notes on your forehead. Of course, if your foreheads are the low, sloping kind, you may only have room for a few, so be choosy. Continue reading »