I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve listened to Nervecell’s debut album Preaching Venom since I got my hands on it in 2008. In the sophisticated journalist jargon we use here at NCS, it’s fucking awesome. Nervecell’s second album, Psychogenocide, has already hit the streets in the Middle East (Nervecell is from Dubai in the UAE). It will be released via Lifeforce Records on April 29th 2011 in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, and on May 2nd 2011 in the rest of Europe & the UK.  I don’t yet know the plans for distribution in NorthAm.

As we learned through that most excellent metal blog Metality, the band have posted a new song from Psychogenocide for streaming. I had planned to spend my day listening to other things, but this song has trashed those plans. I suppose I’ll eventually tire of pressing “play” over and over again, but I’m not there yet.

The song is called “All Eyes On Them”. If you’re a fan of bands like Nile, Origin, Behemoth, or Deicide, I can pretty much guarantee this song is going to love you long time, or vice-versa. It churns and blasts in a tasty fusion of death metal and thrash, but it also includes a slower-paced instrumental breakdown with a nice little Eastern-flavored guitar solo. And speaking of Nile, Karl Sanders provides guest vocals on a song called “Shunq”, which will include both English and Arabic lyrics, and it appears that Psycroptic‘s Dave Haley laid down the drum tracks for the album, as he did on the band’s debut. The album cover is rad, too. Check out the artwork and the song after the jump.

Oh, and speaking of Origin, we have the cover of their next album — and a release date — also after the jump.

First, the Nervecell album cover:

Now, for the new Nervecell song. It’s the first one on this ReverbNation widget, which will also give you the chance to hear some brain-wreckers from Nervecell’s first album.

Click here to order the new album through the official Nervecell online store; they take PayPal and ship worldwide.

You can visit Nervecell on Myspace | Facebook

And now, the cover art for the next album by Origin, Entity, created by Colin Marks:

And now the Origin news:

Entity will be released on June 7 in North America and June 10 in Europe via Nuclear Blast Records. And here’s some vivid verbiage about the cover and the album by Origin drummer John Longstrength:

“As you can see, this time there’s no aliens, no scary faces, no silly comic book imagery, no bullshit. It’s back to basics for the people that don’t fall for, or appreciate, bullshit trends that currently compromise the validity of this art.

“Let this album cover with its grey, dead, coldness reflect our disdain for the misconception that ORIGIN is represented by a giant, planet eating, scary face that’s aimlessly roaming the cosmos like an idiot.

“Like the cover, the music on this album is stone, it’s cold, it’s serious, it’s desolate, it’s very angry, it’s the band unified and working overtime to create what we feel will be the finest 45 minutes ORIGIN has created yet. This album is its own bitter entity.”

Heh heh heh. I can’t fucking wait for the new Nervecell and Origin releases. Can’t. Fucking. Wait.

The first month of the year has come and gone. January brought those of us in Seattle some typically ass-sucking winter weather, though it wasn’t nearly as bad as the brutality dished out by the weather gods on our metal brothers and sisters in the Midwest and Northeast of the U.S. And of course, our readers ins places like Russia, and Finland, and Sweden are probably laughing their asses off reading our complaints about our winter weather. So, we’ll just shut up about that.

Besides, January brought all sorts of great new metal to our tender ears, so who gives a shit about the weather anyway? And you know what else January brought? It brought news of still more metal goodness on the way — great bursts of audio sunshine in our collective futures that will part these winter clouds and leave them whimpering in cloudy tatters.

Okay, maybe we should leave poetry to the poets and just get on with this next monthly installment of METAL IN THE FORGE, where we collect news blurbs and press releases we’ve seen over the last 30 days about forthcoming new albums from bands we know and like, or from bands that look interesting, even though we don’t know them yet. And in this post, we’ve cut and pasted the announcements and compiled them in alphabetical order. Look for your favorite bands, or get intrigued about some new ones:

AJATARRA: “AJATTARA — the Finnish band featuring former AMORPHIS frontman Pasi Koskinen (a.k.a. Itse Ruoja Suruntuoj) — will release its seventh album, Murhat (“Murders”) on February 2 via Osasto-A Records. Murhat is available for streaming in its entirety on the AJATTARA Facebook page.”  (much more after the jump . . .)

ALL SHALL PERISH: “Oakland, California extreme metal band All Shall Perish are currently nearing completion of their fourth album and follow-up to their 2008 release, Awaken the Dreamers.”

ARTILLERY: “Danish thrash metal veterans ARTILLERY have completed work on their sixth album, My Blood, at Medley Studios in Copenhagen for a March 21 European release via Metal Mind Productions (April 5 in the U.S. through MVD and March 9 in Japan via King Records).”

AUGURY: “Sonic Unyon Metal will reissue Concealed, the first album from the progressive death metal outfit AUGURY, on March 8. Originally released in 2004 via Galy Records, this updated version features a fully remastered recording of the album, also expanded to include two bonus tracks from the band’s 2006 demo. This definitive edition will also be packaged in a new digipak format, designed by Sven de Caluwé of ABORTED.”

AVANTASIA: “AVANTASIA — the project led by EDGUY frontman Tobias Sammet — is putting the finishing touches on its two-disc DVD, The Flying Opera – Around The World In 20 Days, for an early March release via Nuclear Blast Records in Europe and Avalon Marquee in Asia.”

BECOMING THE ARCHETYPE: “Georgia-based metallers BECOMING THE ARCHETYPE will release their fourth album, Celestial Completion, on March 29 via Solid State Records. The CD was produced by Matt Goldman (UNDEROATH, THE CHARIOT, COPELAND) and contains 11 tracks.”

BLACKGUARD: “Montreal, Quebec, Canada-based sympho/black/folk/power metallers BLACKGUARD (formerly PROFUGUS MORTIS) have set Firefight as the title of their sophomore album, due on March 29 via Victory Records.”

BLOTTED SCIENCE: “Instrumental extreme metal triumvirate BLOTTED SCIENCE, featuring guitarist Ron Jarzombek (WATCHTOWER, SPASTIC INK, MARTY FRIEDMAN), bassist Alex Webster (CANNIBAL CORPSE, HATE ETERNAL) and drummer Hannes Grossmann (NECROPHAGIST, OBSCURA), is preparing to enter the studio to begin recording a new EP, The Animation Of Entomology, for a tentative late 2011 release.”

BORN OF OSIRIS: “Chicago-based progressive metal hybrid BORN OF OSIRIS will release its third full-length album, The Discovery, on March 22 via Sumerian Records. The CD was recorded at BOTA Studio in Lake In The Hills, Illinois and was mixed by Jason Suecof (ALL THAT REMAINS, TRIVIUM, DEVILDRIVER). ”

THE BRONX CASKET CO.: “THE BRONX CASKET CO., the side project of OVERKILL bassist D.D. Verni and SEVEN WITCHES guitarist Jack Frost, will release its new album, Antihero, on January 25 via eOne Music.”

BURZUM: “Fallen, the eighth album from BURZUM, will be released in North America on April 5. The album is the second to be released via Varg Vikernes’ imprint Byelobog Productions (via Candlelight for the territory).  Fallen features seven new compositions by the controversial Norwegian musician, each adding another storied journey to the celebrated BURZUM legacy.”

BYFROST: “Norwegian blackened thrashers BYFROST have inked a deal with Germany’s AFM Records, who are set to release the band’s sophomore album before the summer.  Of Death, will be recorded at the Conclave and Earshot Studios in the band’s home town of Bergen, and will be produced by ENSLAVED’s Herbrand Larsen and VULTURE INDUSTRIES’ Bjornar Nilsen, who had also produced BYFROST’s debut album.”

CANNIBAL CORPSE: From an interview with Alex Webster: “We have no plans to tour in 2011. We are currently home in the Tampa Bay Area writing our next album, we’ll record it in September so that will leave us with an early 2012 release. So, we’ll probably wait to tour until the album is released.”

CANNIBAL CORPSE: “Florida death metallers CANNIBAL CORPSE are tentatively scheduled to release a new two-disc DVD set, “Global Evisceration”, on March 15 via Metal Blade. The band filmed two shows in May 2010 for the upcoming DVD.”

THE CRIMSON ARMADA: “Columbus, Ohio band The Crimson Armada has inked a deal with Artery Recordings, the joint venture between The Artery Foundation and Razor & Tie. The group will enter the studio this spring with producer Brian Hood (A Plea For Purging, Hope for the Dying) to record their 2011 Artery Recordings debut, titled Conviction, which will be released this summer.”

DARKEST HOUR: “Washington D.C.-based metallers DARKEST HOUR have completed work on their new album, The Human Romance, for a February 22, 2011 release via eOne Music. The CD was recorded at a North Carolina studio with producer (and SOILWORK guitarist) Peter Wichers.”

DEATH: “DEATH‘s seventh and final album, The Sound of Perseverance, will be reissued on February 15 in North America (February 21 internationally) via Relapse Records. The first in a series of official DEATH reissues slated for 2011, the LP has been remastered from the original studio tapes and expanded to include a second disc of previously unreleased demo material. The reissue will also include enhanced artwork and liner notes from the original cover artist Travis Smith as well as liner notes from DEATH guitarist Shannon Hamm and never-before-seen photographs from The Sound of Perseverance era. A special deluxe version of the The Sound of Perseverance reissue includes a third bonus disc of unreleased material and will only be available via Relapse mailorder and digitally via iTunes.”

DERANGED: “Swedish death metal masters DERANGED will enter Berno Studio in Malmö, Sweden in February to begin recording their eighth full-length album, Cut, Carve, Rip, Serve, to be released via Sevared Records.”

DEVILDRIVER: “‘Dead To Rights’, the first single from DEVILDRIVER‘s forthcoming fifth album, Beast, is available for free download at RoadrunnerRecords.com (free e-mail sign-up required). . . . Beast will be issued on February 22, 2011 via Roadrunner Records. The CD was recorded at Sonic Ranch studios in Tornillo, Texas with producer Mark Lewis (TRIVIUM, CHIMAIRA, ALL THAT REMAINS) and was mixed by acclaimed British producer Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, EXODUS, MACHINE HEAD, NEVERMORE, ARCH ENEMY) at his Backstage studio in Derbyshire, England.”

DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS: “Los Angeles-based extreme metal band DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS has set Satánico Dramático as the title of its first full-length album, set for worldwide digital release on February 23, 2011.”

FRAGMENTS OF UNBECOMING: “German death metallers FRAGMENTS OF UNBECOMING are working on material for their fifth album, tentatively titled The Art Of Coming Apart, for a late 2011 release. Songtitles set to appear on the CD include “Trapping The Unseen”, “Hours Of Suffering” and “Memorial Stone”.”

GRAYCEON: “Bay Area progressive rock/metal three-piece GRAYCEON has completed work on its third full-length album, All We Destroy, for a March 1 release. GRAYCEON is recognized as one of the most creative and unique forces within the Bay Area underground metal scene, on par with such contemporaries as LUDICRA, HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE, SLOUGH FEG, AMBER ASYLUM, ASUNDER and WORM OUROBOROS.”

ILLDISPOSED: “Danish extreme metallers ILLDISPOSED have set There Is Light (But It’s Not For Me) as the title of their new album, due in Europe on March 25 via Massacre Records. The band is currently recording the CD at Antfarm Studio in Århus, Denmark with producer Tue Madsen (MOONSPELL, DARK TRANQUILLITY, GOREFEST, SICK OF IT ALL).”

INSISION: “Swedish death metallers INSISION have posted a video teaser for their upcoming EP, End Of All, due later in the year via the U.S. label Sevared Records. The CD was recorded at Off Beat Studio in Stockholm with engineer Anders Eriksson.”

MORDBRAND: “Swedish death metallers MORDBRAND have posted three songs —“Deliverance”, “Graveyard Revisited” and “Deathbound” — from their upcoming six-track 10-inch EP, due in the early spring via Me Saco Un Ojo Records. The songs will also be available via iTunes and Spotify.”

NEGURA BUNGET: “NEGURA BUNGET is putting the finishing touches on a new mini-CD, Poarta De Dincolo (English translation: “A Gate From The Above” or “Carrying From The Other Side”). The effort is being recorded once again at Negura Music studio and, as the title suggests, focuses on exploring the relation between worlds, either from above, under or beyond.”

NEGURA BUNGET: “Negura Bunget’s live DVD/2CD Focul Viu will be released by Lupus Lounge / Prophecy Productions on March 11th, 2011 (Germany and Austria) and March 14th (rest of the Europe). The material with a playing time of over 90 minutes was recorded back in December 2008 at a concert in Bucharest with the band’s classic line-up featuring Hupogrammos, Sol Faur, and Negru. Watch a trailer video for Focul Viu here: “Focul Viu” trailer”

NERVECELL: From the band’s press release: “It is with great pleasure to announce that we have set PSYCHOGENOCIDE as the title of our long-awaited new album, due for release late March 2011 in Europe through Lifeforce Records and Spellbind Records for the Middle East. The artwork has been a concept, which we have been working on for quite a while within the band and we are extremely proud of how it has turned out, perfectly matching the aggression and musical direction of the new album. PSYCHOGENOCIDE is scheduled to be mixed and mastered at Hertz Studios (Behemoth, Decapitated, Vader) in Warsaw, Poland by the Wieslawscy Bros.”

NEURAXIS: “‘Asylum’, a brand new track from Montreal-based death metallers NEURAXIS, is available for streaming at this location. The song comes off the band’s sixth album, Asylon, which will be released in North America on February 15, 2011.”

NOCTEM: “Spanish death/black metallers NOCTEM will enter Ultrasound studios in Braga, Portugal, in February with producer Daniel Cardoso to begin recording their sophomore album. According to a posting on the group’s MySpace page, the follow-up to 2009′s Divinity will be a ‘logical progression of the last album, full of new nuances and based in a darker sound and a more complex composition.’”

PRIMORDIAL: “Irish dark metal masters PRIMORDIAL are putting the finishing touches on their seventh studio album, Redemption At The Puritan’s Hand, with producer Chris Fielding (NAPALM DEATH, ELECTRIC WIZARD) for a tentative April release via Metal Blade Records.”

REVOCATION: “Revocation are currently recording their new as-yet-untitled full-length album at Damage Studios in Southbridge, Massachusetts with engineer Pete Rutcho. The follow-up to the band’s break-through Relapse Records debut Existence Is Futile is expected to see its release in summer 2011.”

RIGOR MORTIS: “Texas thrash metal veterans RIGOR MORTIS will celebrate their 25th anniversary this year with several special shows. . . . In other news, RIGOR MORTIS will record two new songs in February. These will be the first songs this lineup has recorded together since the band’s 1988 self-titled debut album. The groups plans to write and record enough songs in the upcoming months for a future full-length release.”

THE ROTTED: “London, England-based death metallers THE ROTTED have entered Parlour Studios to record the follow-up to 2008′s Get Dead Or Die Trying. Production duties are once again being handled by Russ Russell (NAPALM DEATH, DIMMU BORGIR, EVILE). . . . The as-yet untitled-album is set for a mid/late 2011 release.”

ROTTEN SOUND: “‘Plan’, a brand new song from Finland’s ROTTEN SOUND, is available for streaming on the band’s MySpace and Facebook pages. The track comes off the group’s new full-length album, Cursed, which will be released on March 15 via Relapse Records (except in Finland, where it will arrive on March 16 through Fullsteam Records).”

SINISTER: “Poland’s Metal Mind Productions will release an exclusive box containing the full discography of one of the best death metal bands around — Holland’s SINISTER — on February 14 in Poland, February 21 in Europe and April 5 in the USA. Entitled Altered Since Birth, the set contains eight studio albums, a live DVD, a compilation of demo tracks, plus a booklet containing a full biography based on an exclusive interview, the complete discography, lyrics to all songs and a selection of amazing archive photos.”

SUICIDE SILENCE: “Suicide Silence will soon enter the studio to begin recording a new full-length. Tracking will take place with producer/engineer Steve Evetts (Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die) and the yet-to-be-titled effort will hit stores this summer via Century Media Records.”

SUPREME PAIN: “Dutch brutal death metallers SUPREME PAIN, who feature in their ranks members of SINISTER, CONSOLATION, PUTREFIED and FONDLECORPSE, have inked a deal with Massacre Records. The band’s third album, Divine Incarnation was recorded at Soundlodge Studiosin Leer, Germany with producer Jörg Uken and is scheduled for release later in the year.”

SYLOSIS: “U.K. modern thrashers SYLOSIS will release their sophomore album, Edge Of The Earth, on March 11 via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD was produced by Scott Atkins, who previously worked with the band on 2008′s Conclusion Of An Age.”

SYMPHONY X: “Vocalist Russell Allen of New Jersey’s progressive metal masters SYMPHONY X revealed that the band has set Iconoclast as the title of its eighth album, due later this year via Nuclear Blast Records. When asked what stage of the recording/mixing process the new CD is in, Allen replied, ‘We are in post-production, so the album is pretty much almost done. At this point, mixes are being wrapped up and finalized and it’s off to mastering and should be ready for release in a few months — definitely first quarter of 2011.’”

TEXTURES: From the band’s blog: “We have started recording our fourth album at Split Second Sound studios in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The album will be produced by TEXTURES’  guitar player Jochem Jacobs, who also was responsible for the production of TEXTURES’ previous albums. . . . The yet untitled album will see its release in the fall of 2011 through Nuclear Blast Records.”

TROLLFEST: “True Norwegian Balkan metallers’ TROLLFEST have inked a deal with NoiseArt Records as well as the booking agency Rock The Nation. The band’s new album, En Kvest For Den Hellige Gral, will be released on April 29.”

THE UNGUIDED: “THE UNGUIDED — the new project featuring former SONIC SYNDICATE members Richard Sjunnesson (vocals) and Roland Johansson (vocals), along with current SONIC SYNDICATE guitarist (and Richard‘s brother) Roger Sjunnesson — will release a two-track digital and physical single entitled “Nightmareland” in February.”

VOMITORY: “Mighty Swedish death metallers Vomitory have finished the recordings for their anticipated eighth studio album entitled Opus Mortis VIII. . . . Vomitory’s Opus Mortis VIII will be released in the spring of 2011 via Metal Blade Records.”

Maybe there’s a band out in the world someplace that sounds like Italy’s Fleshgod Apocalypse — but if so, we haven’t heard it yet. Their 2009 debut album, Oracles, combined blowtorch death metal with (gulp!) classical music.

Guess we’d better define our terms here. By “blowtorch death metal,” we’re trying to convey the almost overpowering onslaught produced by rapid, atomizing, chainsaw guitar rhythms, blazingly fast drum noise (heavy on the blast beats), shred-tastic ax solos, and staccato, brutal-death-metal gutturals — all mixed together in a fuzz-heavy production. You know, like a blowtorch to the face. You could search high and low and not find more pulverizing sounds that could still be called music with a straight face.

If that’s all Fleshgod Apocalypse had given us in Oracles, it would have been enough –because the blowtorch metal was ass-kickingly over the top. But they didn’t stop there. They added to the mix some massive grooves and unexpected segments of majestic melody.

But they didn’t stop with that either. Sprinkled here and there (briefly) on Oracles were intros, outros, and interludes of classical or medieval music — pianos and strings, orchestral passages, monastic chants. Talk about a mind-bending concept — one moment the music is tearing along like the back end of a jet engine and in the next moment you’re hearing a Viennese waltz. We know that sounds kinda ridiculous, but believe us — it works.  (read on after the jump . . . and listen to a new track . . .)

Now, as it happens, the band has a new album called Mafia set for a May 18 release on Willowtip Records. (The title explains the extremely cool tentacled album cover at the top of this post.) We can hardly wait! To tide us over until May, the band put up a new song from the forthcoming album on their MySpace page back in mid-February.

The new song is called “Thru Our Scars.” No classical music in this song (unless you count the nanosecond of violin in the first half-minute), though we assume that stylistic quirk hasn’t disappeared and will rear its baroque head elsewhere in the album. What the new song does include are some seriously headbangable grooves, some beautiful technical guitar solos, some snatches of clean singing — and more fucking blowtorch metal.

The damned thing is so infectious (for brutal music) that I make a regular weekly pilgrimage to the Fleshgod MySpace page to get a fix. It’s a head-clearing experience — it tends to purge any lingering sounds from any other band’s music, whether good or bad, and fully occupy your sonic headscape.

Since I’ve been hooked on “Thru Our Scars” for weeks now, it only seems fair to give Fleshgod Apocalypse a shout-out in gratitude, and spread the word a bit about the song, and about the album about to be born.

So, here’s that awesome new song, “Thru Our Scars” (and if you get addicted like me, you can pre-order the album at Willowtip):

P.S. Fleshgod Apocalypse is now about half-way through a European tour with Suffocation, Annotations of An Autopsy, Nervecell, and Burning the Masses (who we wrote about here). That is one brutal line-up. We’re still waiting on the teleporter technology . . . starting to get impatient with the tech geeks’ lack of progress.

If you’re a follower of Cameron Argon (a/k/a “Big Chocolate”), Disfiguring the Goddess, and/or Burning the Masses, we’ve got treats in store for you today: breaking news updates, a mini-interview with Big C that includes some info we haven’t seen anywhere else, some hot-shit music to stream, and a cool tour poster. If none of these names means anything to you, but you like innovative, brain-cleaving death metal, then stay the fuck with us and expand your musical horizons!

THE BACKSTORY: Back in 2008, we stumbled across a 6-song DIY EP (still available on iTunes) by a “band” called Disfiguring the Goddess. It immediately grabbed us by the throat and wouldn’t let go — a raw, distorted vortex of brutal, slamming death metal marked by some truly distinctive vocals. We hunted around for more info and discovered that DTG was pretty much the alter ego of a young dude named Cameron Argon.

Since the EP, Argon has generated a handful of additional DTG songs with ex-Misericordiam blaster Phil Cancilla on drums and Joe Broodle on guitar. (We wrote about DTG‘s most recent output back in early December in a post you can find here.) All the music is absolutely cool shit, and it has spawned a cult following based largely on the vocal work of Cam Argon, who the inimitable Sergeant D over at Metal Inquisition has called “quite arguably the best guttural death metal vocalist on the planet.”

Lots of DTG‘s devoted followers have wondered when the band would actually release an album, and others have wondered if Argon would hook up with some other, more established band in need of a vocalist. That speculation was fueled at one point by Argon’s decision to join the Russian brutal slam metal band Abominable Putridity for some live shows in Moscow last summer, and he appears to have recorded one-off vocals for some other bands, including this one for unsigned Indiana blasters Dissever the Tyrant. But Argon has been in no hurry and seems just as dedicated to finishing his education as expanding his death metal horizons. (continue reading after the jump . . .)

Enter Burning the Masses.  NCS Co-Author IntoTheDarkness originally turned us on to this San Diego band’s 2008 Mediaskare debut Mind Control. It’s an awesome and varied collection of vicious death metal marked by hi-speed technical complexity in the instrumental work, slamming breakdowns, blistering guitar solos, and unexpected bursts of melody (including flamenco-flavored guitar instrumentals, of all things). In our humble opinion, BTM is more than the equal of better-known bands like Suicide Silence and Job For A Cowboy.

THE BREAKING NEWS: We liked the vocal work of BTM‘s frontman David Montenegro on Mind Control, but it turns out that he and the band parted company in December. You can guess where this is going — and you’d be right:

On Friday, Burning the Masses announced on its MySpace blog that Cam Argon would be joining the band as vocalist. Even better, he’ll be the vocalist on the band’s new album, Offspring of Time, which is supposed to hit stores this summer via Mediaskare Records.  According to the band’s MySpace blog, we can expect something different from Mind Control.

We’re not sure what that means, but all we really need to know is that it will be a collaboration between Cameron Argon and Burning the Masses, and in our book that’s about as close to a “can’t miss” as you can get — a marriage made in hell (ya know, in a good, death-metally way).

More news: Argon is joining Burning the Masses just in time to embark with them on a European tour in March called LEGACY OF BLOOD with death metal legends Suffocation. Accompanying them on the tour will be Annotations of An Autopsy, Nervecell, and Fleshgod Apocalypse.

Now that is one mind-fuckingly awesome lineup! Where’s the damn teleporter machine when you need one?

The tour is scheduled to stop in Holland, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland, France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Belgium (but sadly, not Seattle).

Not a bad gig for Cam: Scream your guts out and see the world! And not only that, see the world with fucking Suffocation! Some people just lead a charmed life, don’t they?

THE INTERVIEW: These news items left us with all sorts of questions. Being the nosy pests that we are, we reached out to Big Chocolate over the ether, and the dude was good enough to give us some answers (for which we’re grateful):

NCS: How did you hook up with BURNING THE MASSES?  We’re guessing you could have joined any number of bands — why this one, and why now?

A month ago, I get a message from Chris(guitar in BTM) asking if I was just down to jam because they were looking for a vocal replacement. We jammed a few times and I was impressed with their new style and their musicianship. I’m taking this semester off school while I wait for my state residency to pass to make school a lot more affordable. In this waiting period I wanted to really experience the music scene, and not just make music from my bedroom. So this seemed like a good opportunity.

NCS: Are you involved in writing songs for the forthcoming BTM album?  And can you give us a hint about what the new music will sound like? BTM‘s blog says it will be “much different” from the last album.

They had all the songs written when they contacted me. I wrote all the lyrics a week prior to going to portland to record and placed all the vocals to the rough drums tracks in our room with my built in mic on my macbook. Haha! Their newer sound is a lot more solid and “metal” than their last. I would compare deeds of flesh and whatnot. My vocal style is a little different on this album than most of my fans are probably used to. I use a lot more “solid” lows rather than using my more guttural tone. Haha! But don’t worry, my guttural stuff is on it. I guess you guys will just have to wait till we debut a song on their myspace to find out.

NCS: You’ve always been involved in other projects, including DISFIGURING THE GODDESS. Do you still plan on creating new DTG music, or is that project on hold?

DTG is NOT on hold. I’m finishing up writing the new album now, I only have about a track or two left. Joe(Guitarist) will be revising and rewriting my guitar in the songs while I’m in europe touring with BTM. And Phil(drums) is getting ready to record as well. We plan to hit the studio in April/May for an early fall release. I’m so stoked on the new material. The album writing process for this album is: I’m writing a bunch of songs (guitar/drums/vocals) so I can control the structure and overall pace/feel of the tracks, I’m calling them “pre-pre production” tracks. And then joe is adding color to my black and white sketch. He’s already done with one track and our process is a huge success. I really like the way it ended up.

NCS: Last time we checked in with you, you were studying criminal justice. How are you planning to reconcile your work with BTM and the tour with schoolwork?

I’m only taking this semester off as of now, and i’ll be returning full time in the fall. Before I joined and agreed to do the new BTM album, I let the band know that after the europe tour that I wanted to keep my options open and not be a permeant member just yet. I have my dedication I owe to DTG and my Solo music and not too mention my school. I basically want to see how it goes and how I feel about my role in BTM; and this is a great opportunity to experience doing music like this.

NCS: Is there any other news or thoughts you’d like to share with our readers at this point?

I have a vocal competition going right now on my youtube channel, so if you do vocals; please go check it out. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jFxSDOUEnY) I have some other news in the works, but you guys will just have to stay posted with me to find out. ;D

THE MUSIC: At the outset of this post we invited those of you who have no idea who any of these people are to stay with us anyway. So it’s only fair that we give you a sample of what they sound like when they get amped up and let the shit fly. So, for your listening pleasure, here’s a taste of Cam Argon’s work with Disfiguring the Goddess, followed by two tracks from Burning the Masses‘ 2008 full-length debut, showing different sides of the band’s music.  And then, as a preview of what this hellish marriage is likely to produce, check out the video of Big C tracking vocals for the new BTM release.

Burning the Masses: Galactic Abduction

Burning the Masses: Prodigy

Disfiguring the Goddess: Teeth of Emultion

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

IT’S THE FIRST DAY OF A NEW DECADE, AND A BRAVE NEW WORLD AWAITS!

So, why did you get so hammered last night? Is it really right to start off a new decade sleeping off a bender?  Well, I ain’t your mama, so my answer is:  Of course it is.

If you’re like me, today may not be the best day to pound your head with metal — unless of course you haven’t gone to sleep yet, in which case metal is exactly what you need. Because if you go to sleep now, that means you’ll wake up feeling like toad shit.  So, as your doctor, I advise you to listen to metal and don’t go to sleep.  Ever.  Be like that dude played by Christian Bale in The Machinist.  Except eat more.

Now, where was I?  Oh yeah, the new year.  As we gaze into the bright new future, we’re thinking about all the extreme music that’ll be coming our way in 2010.  We pulled together from various trade sources and internet prowling a list of extreme bands that have promised new releases in 2010, and then over the Christmas holiday your three NCS Co-Authors each picked the ones we’re most looking forward to hearing.

There were 21 bands that got at least 2 votes from the 3 of us, and that list is below.  Not that we think you really care deeply about what the three of us are stoked to hear, but our brains are too fogged today to do anything but post lists.  So here’s our list, and after the jump you can see the complete line-up we compiled of extreme bands who’ve promised new releases in 2010.  (If you know of bands we missed, let us know!)

A Life Once Lost
The Absence
Acacia Strain
All Shall Perish
Arsis
Carnifex
Dark Tranquillity
Decrepit Birth
Devin Townsend Project
Ion Dissonance
Living Sacrifice
Meshuggah
Necrophagist
Nervecell
Neuraxis
Rotting Christ
Soilwork
Through the Eyes of the Dead
Veil of Maya
Whitechapel
Wintersun

There’s one band that isn’t on this list that deserves special comment — PIG DESTROYER. They’re missing for only one reason: Although there have been widely circulated rumors (which seem to trace back to this report) that Pig Destroyer will be releasing a new album next fall, we haven’t seen any confirmation from the band or their label. But we definitely hope the reports are true.

And now, after the jump, you can see a complete list of NCS Metal bands that have announced 2010 releases.

Here’s the complete list we compiled from various trade sources that we used to pick the bands whose releases we most want to hear.

After the Burial, Arch Enemy, Arcturus, August Burns Red, Between the Buried and Me, Book of Black Earth, Born of Osiris, Cephalic Carnage, Children of Bodom, Converge, The Crown, Daath, Dark Tranquility, Darkane, Decrepit Birth, Devin Townsend, Disarmonia Mundi, Emperor, The Faceless, Fear Factory, Glass Casket, Goatwhore, God Forbid, Gorod, Heaven Shall Burn, In Flames, Lamb of God, Lesbian, A Life Once Lost, Light This City, Mastodon, Meshuggah, Moonspell, Mors Principium Est, Necrophagist, Nervecell, Nightrage, Nile, Norma Jean, Opeth, Pantera, Pelican, Porcupine Tree, The Red Shore, Revocation, Rotting Christ, Scale the Summit, Skarp, Soilent Green, Soilwork, Strapping Young Lad, Suffocation, Swallow the Sun, Textures, Unearth, Veil of Maya, Wintersun, Xerath