AMON AMARTH DON’T NEED NO FUCKING SUPPORT

 Metal News  13 Responses »
Feb 102011
 


You knew the Vikings were coming, and now there’s confirmation.  Amon Amarth have just announced their 2011 U.S. headlining tour. Usually, the word “headlining” implies that other bands will be following along in the caravan, but this tour is a different kind of animal — because Amon Amarth will be playing without any supporting acts.

It will be called “An Evening With AMON AMARTH” — which sounds more like dinner theater or a Vegas lounge act by some over-the-hill solo vocalist than the kind of titanic ass-kicking that’s really in store for us.  What we’ll get will be two separate sets each night: In one set, the band will play the forthcoming Surtur Rising album in its entirety. In the other, the band will presumably play a setlist of songs from their previous discography.

The marauding is scheduled to kick off on April 14 in Chicago, Illinois and close in Philadelphia on May 7. Sadly for our brothers and sisters north of the border, there are no Canadian dates. The whole schedule is right after the jump. Continue reading »

CHILDREN OF BODOM: UGLY

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Feb 102011
 

We’ve had previous discussions in these pages about the changes in Children of Bodom‘s music over time, and there seems to be a general feeling of nervousness about the quality of the band’s next album, Relentless Reckless Forever, which will be released on March 8 — particularly because the first single, “Was It Worth It?”, was an underwhelming effort.

Today, the band officially put up a second single from the album for streaming on their Facebook page — though as far as I can tell, you have to “share” the thing on your own page in order to hear it. Then, of course, I found out the song has unofficially been up on YouTube for almost a solid week. A few other metal blogs tuned in to that development before we did, but maybe you’re just as slow on the uptake as we are. And just in case you haven’t already heard the song, you can listen to it after the jump.

And just to be clear, no matter whether you think (like we do) that the band’s music has become increasingly formulaic and — dare we say it — more like heavy-metal pop music than we ever thought possible, this is still Children of Bodom and we WILL still listen when they come out with new music.  And, as it happens, this newest song — called “Ugly” — is a big step up from “Was It Worth It?” Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT, PART 5: ISKALD

 THE SYNN REPORT  6 Responses »
Feb 102011
 

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Our UK contributor Andy Synn returns with another edition of The Synn Report. This edition serves as part retrospective and part review of Iskald’s newest CD, The Sun I Carried Alone, which has just been released.)

Primarily described as a Black/Thrash hybrid, Iskald is the brainchild of Simon Larsen (Vocals, Guitars, Bass and Keyboards) and Aage André Krekling (drums and vocals) whose progressive, open take on furious yet melodic black metal is like a scalpel to death metal’s sledgehammer, vicious and precise but no less lethal in intent.

With lyrics in both English and Norwegian, the band maintains a keen grasp of its own cultural heritage, informed by a wider world view than can be attributed to many of their peers. Thematically, the lyrics cover a lot of bleak and epic ground, addressing the mystery of forbidden secrets and cataclysmic ruin, but also dip into darkly romantic waters similar to what one might expect of My Dying Bride and Katatonia.

The use of keys is subtle and interesting, neither overtly symphonic and overwhelming or poorly produced and underwhelming (as can so often be the case).  The drums provide more than just standard blast-heavy backing beats, performing quick and capable fills and tempo changes as part of an overall technically impressive display, while the bass remains a key component in the band’s sound. The duo’s real strength however is their ability to effortlessly reel off an endless supply of quality riffs, accented by intricate drum work and progressively inclined song-structures. (more after the jump, including songs from the band’s discography . . .) Continue reading »

NEW VIDEO FROM THE FAMINE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Feb 092011
 

Recently, we reviewed The Famine‘s new album, The Architects of Guilt (here). We liked it. A lot.

Minutes ago, The Famine released their first video of a song from the album. The song is “Ad Mortem”. Damn good song. Really good. It’s already on our list of candidates for 2011’s most infectious songs.

The video is above average, too. It can be seen above. That is all.

SEPTIC FLESH REVEALS FRAGMENT OF OCCULT MACHINE

 Metal News  2 Responses »
Feb 092011
 

This is just too good not to share, in part because it involves Septic Flesh and in part because the artwork is cool and in part because the band’s Seth Siro Anton, who designed the artwork, is . . . well . . . cool.

As we’ve reported before (in a post that included a bunch of other art created by Mr. Anton), Septic Flesh has a new album on the way. It will be called The Great Mass, and it will be released on April 18 (one day later in North America, because we North Americans are not worthy). If history is a reliable guide, it will be worth hearing.

Today, the band unveiled part of the album art — the cover for the jewelcase edition, which you can see above. But it’s only “a small fragment” of the whole.  To see Seth Siro Anton’s description of what’s coming — which is a kick to read — follow along after the jump. Continue reading »

KING GIANT: SOLACE

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Feb 092011
 

Down is good, Crowbar is good, Kyuss is good, but Virginia’s King Giant has become my go-to band for nasty, sludgy, whiskey-soaked Southern doom ‘n roll.

Last September, I stumbled across a King Giant video for a song called “13 to 1” from their self-released 2009 album, Southern Darkness and included it in one of our MISCELLANY posts. That song is heavy and dirty and bluesy — slow and nasty, with sourmash-soaked vocals and big, rounded, beautiful guitar tones, not to mention the unusual tinkling of a banjo during the first 45 seconds. Very cool shit, and the video was a kick to watch, too.

Well, King Giant has just released a video for yet another song from Southern Darkness, called “Solace”. It’s a performance-based clip filmed at a Washington, DC joint called the 9:30 Club — a place of significance for this band. And guess what? It’s another cool video for another hot-shit song. (more after the jump, including the video . . .) Continue reading »

ETERNAL HELCARAXE

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Feb 092011
 


J.R.R. Tolkien had a talent for creating evocative names for beings and places in his writings about Middle Earth, and many of those have exerted a magnetic attraction on metal bands. To name a few: Amon Amarth (the Elvish name for Mount Doom), Gorgoroth, Nazgul, Ephel Duath, and Burzum (one of the words written in Black Speech on the One Ring of Sauron).

Helcaraxe is a lesser known place-name, probably due to its appearance in one of Tolkien’s less-frequently read (and posthumously published) works about Middle Earth, The Silmarillion. It doesn’t sound like a hospitable place. Tolkien describes it as a wasteland of bitter cold and grinding ice (we’ll have his full description at the end of this post). And yet it’s the name chosen by Irish black-metal band Eternal Helcaraxe.

Many black-metal bands are drawn to imagery that conveys bitter cold and bleakness, yet the words that came to me as I listened to this band’s wonderful recent release, To Whatever End, were “sweeping”, “soaring”, “anthemic” — and yes, “epic” (my NCS cohort Alexis will try to shoot me for using that word, but a better one isn’t coming to my lazy mind). I just fucking love this music. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

“THAT’S METAL!” – BUT IT’S NOT MUSIC (NO. 28)

 That's Metal -- But It's Not Music  21 Responses »
Feb 082011
 

Time for another of our irregular installments in this series, which features things we’ve recently read or seen that we thought were metal, even though they aren’t music.

We have three items for you today: A bit of education about an ancient form of swordplay that we didn’t know existed, including a video demonstration set to metal; a piece of news about an unusual (and nasty) form of political protest; and our prize for the most metal ad from Super Bowl XLV.

ITEM ONE

For this first item, we owe our thanks to long-time NCS reader and commenter tabiris. He e-mailed us about a form of fencing we’d never heard of before. When we think of fencing, we think of those matches included in the Summer Olympics, with men and women wielding whispy implements called foils, or sabres, or épée, with points scored by a “touch” using an electronic scoring apparatus. (Kendo also comes to mind, but that’s another story).

That stuff is undoubtedly very difficult to do, but it doesn’t look metal. Seems like it’s all finesse, and although finesse has its place in metal, it’s a small place. Well, there’s another kind of fencing that certainly involves skill and finesse, but it looks a whole lot more metal than Olympic fencing.  (more after the jump, including our typically tasteless commentary . . .) Continue reading »

MID-DAY DIVERSIONARY TACTICS

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Feb 072011
 

I just took a break from what I usually do during daylight hours to check happenings in the world of metal, and that proved to be quite a long and interesting diversion. It may not be mid-day where you are, but maybe you still need a diversion or two, or three. That’s what we’re here for — to divert you, for better or worse, depending on your alternatives.

DIVERSION ONE

Regular NCS visitors know we’ve got a pathological weakness for anything Finnish, so when I saw a come-on for a new video by a Finnish band called Mygrain, of course I had to watch it. Besides, I’ve been meaning to check out this band ever since I read about the release of their self-titled third album on January 12 (via Spineform Records) — especially because it was mixed and mastered by Dan Swanö (Edge of Sanity, Bloodbath, Nightingale).

The video is for a song called “Trapped In An Hourglass”. Very cool music — fast-paced, Finnish-style melodic death that’s both catchy and cathartic, with two admirable guitar solo’s (one of which is a jazzy bit of picking at about the 3:00 mark), some clean vocals that even I like, and evidence that Finnish howlers can even shriek underwater.  (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

ESSENCE OF THRASH

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Feb 072011
 

The three of us who started this site are not big on thrash, which is probably obvious since we write infrequently about straight thrash-metal bands. It’s not that we judge it to be a lesser form of metal. It’s just a matter of taste. Speaking for myself, I like the energy, the speed, and the riffing style, but I’m not crazy about traditional thrash vocals and I tend to get bored with the sameness of the songs on many thrash albums. I’ve found that I like thrash a lot more live than I do on recordings (for example, I thought Exodus and Death Angel put on two hellaciously good performances in Seattle last year).

Needless to say, the re-thrash movement has held little interest for us. There’s nothing wrong with a band immersing itself in its influences, but when you tend to get bored even with the old masters, you tend to get really bored with rank imitators, even talented ones.

I still try to sample new thrash releases every now and then, hoping for a pleasant surprise. For example, I’ve been listening to the new album by Lazarus A.D. (Black Rivers Flow). I’m not sure I like it as much as the band’s debut (The Onslaught), but a couple of the songs are sticking with me (the title track and “The Strong Prevail”). Still, although I think devotees of thrash will probably enjoy this, on the whole this album isn’t ringing my chimes.

Still, I persevere, and sometimes it pays off. For example, over the weekend I gritted my teeth and started watching a new video from a Danish thrash band called Essence, while preparing to stop it quickly. But the song turned out to be different from what I was expecting, and not just different but really good — thrash with some unusual and original ingredients in the mix.  (more after the jump, including the video . . .) Continue reading »

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