AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): BLACK CRUCIFIXION — “LIGHTLESS VIOLENT CHAOS”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  2 Responses »
May 212019
 

 

In just about every review of an album by Black Crucifixion there seems to be an obligatory history lesson, and there will be one here too, because in the case of this band the historical context may actually matter. And there are other reasons to appreciate their history, which we’ll come to.

At the same time, the road traveled by this band has led them to a very different place than where they began in their songcraft almost 30 years ago, as it has in the case of such other early black metal stalwarts as Ulver, Satyricon, Ihsahn, Tom G Warrior in his Triptykon days, Enslaved, and Carl-Michael Eide under the banner of Virus. What doesn’t seem to have changed is Black Crucifixion‘s devotion to the devil. Continue reading »

BLACK METAL (PART 5): A COLLECTION CURATED BY NEILL JAMESON (KRIEG)

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Sep 122016
 

Krieg-Photo by Hillarie Jason

 

(Neill Jameson (Krieg) returns to our site with a further installment in his series on black metal from years past. Some real gems are collected here, and others can be found in his previous installments located behind this link.)

Without much need for exposition since this is my fifth time doing this subject, I guess all I really can say is I don’t understand why these records sit with some dust on them when so much other nonsense gets lavished with praise. It’s probably my taste and inability to think positive thoughts, but that seems like some shit for my therapist. So without further hold-ups, here’s a few more black metal records that I feel should have some light shed on them. Continue reading »

VIDEOGRAPHY: BLACK CRUCIFIXION, GATECREEPER, NICHOLAS BARKER

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jun 132014
 

I spied three videos this morning that I commend to your attention.

BLACK CRUCIFIXION

I am a pathetic excuse for a human being. Among other reasons, I failed to review one of the 2013 albums I most enjoyed — Coronation of King Darkness by Finland’s Black Crucifixion. I only managed to write about a single song after it premiered in advance of the album’s release. Pathetic.

This morning I was reminded of my abject failure by the debut of an amazing video for a song from that album named “Heroes End Up On Gallows”. The video was eight months in the making, and it is a striking work of dark and fiery beauty. We are seeing it now because Coronation of King Darkness will soon be released on vinyl by Svart Records, with a gatefold sleeve and new cover art (above). Continue reading »

MONDAY MURDER: NEW SONGS FROM GUTTURAL SECRETE, BLACK CRUCIFIXION, AND MALEVOLENCE

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Jan 282013
 

Monday’s are tough enough under the best of circumstances, but your humble editor had something of a lost weekend, with epic revels on Saturday night and a Sunday lost in painful fog, paying the price for all that fun. The brutal reality of normal life and work now intrudes, whether I want it to or not.

But now is not the time to mope and moan over that which can’t be changed. It’s time to get back on the fuckin’ horse and charge out of the gates. And to get the old game face on for what lies ahead this week, here’s some murderous new music that I discovered yesterday — from Guttural Secrete (U.S.), Black Crucifixion (Finland), and Malevolence (Portugal).

GUTTURAL SECRETE

Guttural Secrete are from Nevada. They play brutal death metal. Actually, let’s call it brutal tech-death. They have a new album entitled Nourishing the Spoil due for release next month on the Brutal Bands label (pre-order here). Last October I included a song from that album by the name of “Stainless Conception” in this post, and over the weekend the band debuted another one, “Deadened Prior To Coitus”. What a nice name for a song!

It begins with eerie, reverberating chords and then all hell breaks loose with grinding, pulverizing riffs and a merciless drum attack. There’s a load of fast fretwork and rapid tempo changes throughout, as well as a reappearance by that ghostly melody from the intro. The vocals, of course, are guttural secretions. Continue reading »