UNCOVERING HIDDEN GEMS

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Apr 152011
 

(Today we’re happy to feature another guest post. This one came to us from NCS reader Rob K., and includes thoughts about some of his recent discoveries among bands both new and not-so-new — plus music, of course.)

When it comes to hobbies, people look for fulfillment. Something that centers you, relieves stress, provides mental clarity and peace of mind. A place you can escape to where no one else can bother you.

Everyone has their niche, be it wine connoisseurs, beer enthusiasts, foodies, stamp and/or coin collectors, Star Wars collectors, what have you. Don’t get me wrong, I love all the aforementioned things (save for maybe the Star Wars memorabilia and stamp collecting). For me, it’s music. More specifically metal.

“But Rob,” you say, “how does metal bring about peace of mind and mental clarity when it’s all over the place?” Well friend, it’s all in your perception. It’s controlled chaos. It’s not for everyone, no doubt, but there’s a level of challenge to this music that appeals to people like us. Metal culture is also notorious for it’s trolling and general flaming, mano a mano, directed against bands whose genre ends in “-core”, for example. But I digress. It’s also a HUGE, pulsing underground community where you’ll see a strong bond of brotherhood, sharing, and the occasional grab-assing and bad hair cuts.

Star Wars pr0n anyone?

From the lyrics to the thundering double bass and faster-than-light guitar solos, there’s an art in metal. It’s about anti-culture, facing the world head-on, against the grain. Metal rarely gets enough limelight to be considered mainstream. Yet it thrives in the underground. Negate all the stupid scene kids and retarded fashions, and dig deep to the hardcore fans of EVERYTHING metal. disregarding the suffixes of “core” or whatever the fuck “shoegaze” is.

One of my favorite things to do is to scour the interwebs for new/old, exciting, unheard of (even in the relatively small community of metalheads) bands. By searching, I stumble across some really obscure and occasionally EXTREMELY talented bands that I may not have otherwise heard, plus some not-so-obscure bands who are new to me. Check them out after the bump (that is, if you’re still reading this).

Continue reading »

A TETRAHEDRON FOR THURSDAY

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Apr 142011
 

As expected, I haven’t had the time lately to do anything in-depth for NCS (and thanks again to all our guest post-ers for bailing me out) but I still do have time to put together quick items every now and then, just to keep the new metal flowing along its molten path from our ears to yours.

My original title for this post was “A Trio For Thursday”, because I’d heard new songs from three bands over the last 24 hours that got me excited. But then, as I was finishing this up, I came across a brand new fourth one that I just had to include. Not wanting to abandon my affinity for alliteration, I tried to think of a word beginning with “T” that means four of something.Voilà! In geometry, a tetrahedron is a shape composed of four triangular faces, three of which meet at each vertex — like a pyramid.

So, here we go — four songs, and I can guarantee you’ll like at least one of them, or your money back. The first is yet another new track from the UK’s Xerath from their forthcoming album II. The second is another track from Malfeitor, a Swedish death metal band whose new music we’ve already featured more than once recently. The third is a song by a group of Norwegian death-thrashers called Exeloume. And last, but not least, we’ve got a new song from a UK band called Detrimentum who we’ve been pumped about for a while.

Feast your ears on the tunes after the jump. Or, more accurately, allow the music to feast on your ears. Continue reading »

FILTH, VITRIOL, AND FREE MUSIC!

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Apr 142011
 

(In yet another of this week’s guest posts, The Artist Formerly Known As Dan joins us again at NCS with a special piece on hardcore music — which is a genre we don’t often cover at this site.)

I sometimes get the vibe that hardcore is misunderstood, especially by self-proclaimed metalheads – not that I’m an expert, but just that a lot of good music is filtered out because of the label. In fact, that statement is true for many genres, but is a debate for another day. I know I personally used to avoid anything labeled “hardcore” like the plague, because I assumed it was going to be some tough-guy bullshit fest that was basically punk with drop-tunings. How ignorant I was. Anyway, the point of today’s post is not to highlight the differences or start debates, but to introduce you to bands you may have slept on that I believe can be classified as hardcore or have hardcore roots (again, subjective, but Islander gave me the podium).

Swamp Thing

For fans of: Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, thrash

These guys fucking rule. If you like your music raw, straight-ahead, and visceral, Swamp Thing is for you. Just filthy hooks and catchy rhythms all over the place. Hailing from Richmond, VA, you can hear just the slightest hint of southernness to the music. It’s great, I tell you. Disclaimer – MetalSucks premiered their EP last month, and that’s where I first heard about them – gotta give credit where credit is due. (more after the jump, including tracks to stream . . .) Continue reading »

DEPTH

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Apr 132011
 

From the beginning of this site, we’ve tried to shine our dim, flickering, low-wattage spotlight on bands from all over the world, in addition to the metal that’s being created in the U.S. and Canada. The Middle East is one of the regions to which we’ve paid attention. With very few exceptions, bands from that region don’t get nearly the notice they deserve here in the U.S.

One of our guides to Middle Eastern metal is a first-rate blog called Metality, which is the brain-child of a dude from Egypt who goes by the name iRoar. Metality is on the verge of releasing a new compilation of music (their second) that will include songs from at least 50 different bands. Yes, that wasn’t a typo — 50 bands, including several we’ve featured at NCS in the past. We’re proud to be a co-sponsor of that comp — and you’ll see more details about it in the near future.

One of the bands whose music will be included on the comp is a melodic death metal band from Kuwait called Depth. A couple days ago, Metality featured a song by the band called “Necropolis” that’s really impressive, and I wanted to share it with you. Even better, it turns out that Depth is making its full-length, self-titled album plus its recent EP, Memento Mori, available for free download. After the jump, you can check out the song and get info on the downloads. Continue reading »

IHSAHN TO PERFORM IN THE U.S.

 Metal News  21 Responses »
Apr 132011
 

Take a look at that flyer up above for ProgPower XII, the latest installment of the long-running prog- and power-metal festival held in Atlanta. Now let your eyes drift over to the upper left-hand corner and find the logo for a band called Arcturus. Now, mentally cross out that name and put a different name in its place: Ihsahn.

It’s true — Arcturus is out and Ihsahn is in — as in, yes, the former Emperor frontman will be making his first live stage appearance in the U.S. I’m not a huge Ihsahn fan, but I know many of you are, and this definitely qualifies as news that’s worthy of note.

The story about how Ihsahn was added to this festival is also damned funny.  It starts with the bizarre statement by Arcturus (who I’ve never heard of, to be honest) “explaining” the cancelation of their appearance and ends with the promoter’s blunt-but-hilarious comment about Arcturus jumping ship. I think it’s safe to say that in the eyes of most metalheads, he got himself a big upgrade.  Read both statements after the jump. Continue reading »

A BEST OF THE DECADE LIST

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  25 Responses »
Apr 132011
 

(Today we’ve got another guest post for you, this one from an NCS reader and a metal vocalist and lyricist who goes by the handle “.jh“. His band suggestions in our Comments section and in his “Best of 2010” list, published at NCS here, have reliably steered us to lots of music we’ve gotten hooked on, so we were curious to see the list you’re about to see.)

A few weeks ago TNOTB ran a story where they were promising to crown the 100 best songs of the past decade and asked people to contribute 15 to 20 albums, and they’d talley the votes up and post the resulting top 100 albums. Now who doesn’t like a good list? So I diligently carved up a list of all albums I own that were released between 2000 and 2009. For the record, I ended up with roughly 4000 songs / 400 albums. Picking just 5% from the list was hard, and I’m sure that if I were to revisit this list a year down the road, I might pick differently, but this is here and now, so what follows is the list, plus sample songs. After the list are a few thoughts about some of the albums, and also a list of albums that might have made the cut.

(in alphabetical order)

1349 – Hellfire


Continue reading »

DEMONICAL IS RAVENOUS

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Apr 122011
 

It was the second day of this year. We posted a collection of music organized around the objective of musically detonating a couple canisters of napalm in your head, as a way of clearing out the post-New Year’s Eve/Day cobwebs and preparing everyone to resume their “normal” lives.

We began the napalming process with a video from a Swedish death metal band we had just discovered by the name of Demonical. At that point, Demonical had produced two albums, and the video was for a kick-ass song from the second album called “Baptized in Fire”.

Demonical is now on the verge of debuting their third album, Death Infernal. Released by the awesome Cyclone Empire label, it will see the light of day on April 15. We’ve heard the album, and it’s stupendously good. Demonical continues to channel the undead spirits of Dismember and Entombed, with some updated flourishes of their own; we’ll have more in-depth things to say about this album in the near future.

For now, we have a video that the band released today for a song from the album called “Ravenous”. The song itself is a masterful rendering of remorseless old-school death, with its roots sunk deep in unconsecrated, blood-soaked burial grounds. It’s a grinding engine of down-tuned destruction, augmented by galvanizing beats and a whisper of dark melody. The video itself is also well-executed and fun to watch. Check it out after the jump. Continue reading »

HOLY. SHIT. CHECK OUT THIS TOUR

 Metal News  16 Responses »
Apr 122011
 

I just saw news about a tour scheduled to make its way through the U.S. and Canada this summer, and fluids burst from every orifice. Well, at least my nose started running.

The headliner: Children of Bodom

The supporting bands:  The Devin Townsend Project, Obscura, and Septic Flesh

The dates and places? They include Seattle on June 27, which is really all I need to know. But because I love every single one of you, especially those of you who will be denied the chance to see this tour because I know you will be hurting inside, the rest of the schedule is after the jump, along with the tour flyer. Excuse me now while I wipe my nose. Continue reading »

SEPTIC FLESH: THE GREAT MASS

 Album Reviews  5 Responses »
Apr 122011
 

(Our UK contributor Andy Synn provides his review of an album we’ve been eagerly awaiting here at NCS — the new one from Greece’s Septic Flesh, due for release by Season of Mist on April 18 in Europe and one day later in NorthAm.)

Ladies and gentlemen, for my next trick I’m going to attempt to review the new Septic Flesh album without ever explicitly mentioning their previous album Communion (not counting this mention obviously)!

Equally comfortable playing the roles of death metal behemoths, gothic troubadours and classical composers, Septic Flesh have crafted another deep and rewarding piece of majestic, symphonic metal that carefully navigates the pitfalls and clichés which plague many of their peers. Largely this is due to their focus on making the more esoteric elements of their sound just as important and vital to their success as the guitar riffs and drum patterns which underpin them.

I for one could not imagine these songs without the complex classical arrangements, nor see them existing without the frantic energy provided by the furious drums and guitars. At no point is the orchestration treated as an afterthought, or designed simply to fill otherwise empty space, and equally it has been used at the expense of the metallic heart which powers the songs. Rather, the classical elements have been composed to suit the core metallic might of the band . . . which has itself been influenced and shaped by the core classical influences that run through their musical veins!  (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

WE ALMOST MISSED THIS NEW AMORPHIS SONG . . . ALMOST

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Apr 122011
 

I knew Amorphis would be debuting a new song from their next album yesterday. I meant to keep my eyes peeled for it so I could feed it straight onto NCS without delay. I fucked up. But I’m not beating myself up over that, because it’s the first time that I’ve ever fucked up. Ever.

Okay, maybe that’s a bit of an overstatement. To be more accurate, it’s the first time I ever fucked up . . . since the last time I fucked up. Which happened about a half dozen times yesterday before the missing-the-new-Amorphis-song fuck-up.

Where was I?  Oh yeah, the new Amorphis song. It’s called “You I Need”. It’s going to be released digitally in Finland on April 20 and in other countries on April 22. It comes off the band’s new album, The Beginning Of Times, which is scheduled for release on May 27 via Nuclear Blast Records.

We already featured the album art (you remember the big egg hanging over the earth, on the verge of hatching something?), now we’re featuring this song, and because it’s Amorphis — one of our principal Exceptions to the Rule of no clean singing around here — we’re probably going to run a feature every time anyone in the band belches or farts between now and May 27. After the jump, we have the song and a few thoughts about it. Continue reading »

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