Jan 062014
 


Anagnorisis – photo by Nik Vechery

(In this post we present a show review by NCS contributor Austin Weber, with typically excellent photos by Nik Vechery and embedded music streams, too.)

While most of the metal community is familiar with the Louisville, KY one-man act Panopticon, many have not heard of another highly talented black metal act from here called Anagnorisis — although Austin Lunn was a big part of Anagnorisis for years before moving on to Panopticon, and even in his absence, Anagnorisis have grown and evolved into quite a formidable act. Their latest full-length, Beyond All Light, surprisingly showed up on many a year-end list, including Stereogum’s coveted metal list. So when I heard they were having a vinyl release show for that record, and that the line-up as a whole was going to be a trifecta of quality pitch-black madness along with one newcomer, I knew I had to contact Nik Vechery and cover the show.

What better way to ring in the new year than to absorb potent heaps of aural filth. Upon getting to the show way too early, the thought occurred to me that the bitter near-freezing cold was a perfect grim fit for the long night of black metal ahead. Through talking with fellow fans, Nik and I figured out we had competition, as Rhys Williams from Invisible Oranges and his photographer were covering the show as well. This is what it’s like when metal blogs collide — cue Powerman 5000! Consider as proof that Anagnorisis are a band worth following, that others besides me and my questionable taste wanted to cover the show as well. Continue reading »

Nov 252013
 

(NCS contributor Austin Weber has delivered unto us a three-part introduction to new and forthcoming releases by 7 bands. In this first part, he focuses on The Conjuration and Order of Leviathan.)

The end of the year is usually a slower time for new music releases, a time when much alcohol is consumed and countless amounts of money are wasted on bullshit soon forgotten. But fortunately I’ve got plenty of releases and new songs to catch up on and spread the word about.

THE CONJURATION

I wrote about them a few months back regarding their 2012 release The Human Condition, an unhinged album with a schizophrenic avante-garde meets progressive take on death metal unlike anything I’ve heard before. Recently a new album titled Surreal was announced, with a release date coming up soon, sometime in December. They just premiered “Capricorn” through their Facebook. In addition to that track, sole member and composer Corey Jason sent me another track to check out called “Kaleidoscopic Thoughts”.

“Capricorn” starts in a keyboard meets groovy death metal interlocking mass before transitioning to thrashy blasting death metal that is soon layered in the same keyboard flourish that starts the song. As per how The Conjuration usually structure their music, the song suddenly splinters off to somewhere new, which is a tantalizing heavy groove that lasts for only a moment. Continue reading »