“THAT’S METAL!” – BUT IT’S NOT MUSIC (NO. 35)

 That's Metal -- But It's Not Music  14 Responses »
May 082011
 

All sorts of things are metal, even though they don’t involve music. That’s what this series is about. Things can be metal for many different reasons. In general, people, places, things, and occurrences are metal because they’re awe-inspiring. But not everything that’s awe-inspiring is metal. Natural wonders, architectural marvels, and great works of art can be awe-inspiring in their beauty, but you wouldn’t call all of them “metal”, or at least I wouldn’t. An element of brutality will help something qualify for the term, as will an element of “otherness” — something that’s unconventional, something that’s rare and maybe even weird and unexpected, or something that appeals to the anarchic impulse in most metalheads.

Having said that, I also find myself applying the term “metal” to things that are just off-the-hook ridiculous or bizarre. Maybe that’s just me. To be clear, I don’t think everything that’s ridiculous is metal. Donald Trump is ridiculous, and bizarre. So is Dancing With the Stars. But they are definitely not metal.

I think it helps if ridiculous behavior is self-destructive. Like what happened to the dude’s hand pictured over to the right, which we featured in a previous installment of this series. I thought this was pretty fucking metal. I thought the same thing about the dog who chewed off his master’s gangrenous toe while the guy was passed out in an alcoholic stupor (here).

Anyway, most of today’s offerings fall into the “ridiculous” category of non-musical metal. I’ll just leave it at that. See for yourself after the jump. Continue reading »

“DELIVER US” FROM IN FLAMES

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  23 Responses »
May 072011
 

Okay, that could be interpreted as kind of a sarcastic post title. But I didn’t really mean it the way you think. You’ll see — it’s a play on words.

I actually am faithful to In Flames. They were my gateway to extreme metal, years ago. Here at NCS, we weren’t terribly thrilled with their last album, but that hasn’t stopped us from getting up for the new one, Sounds of A Playground Fading, which will be released between June 17 and June 24, depending on where you live.

Yesterday, Century Media released the first single from the album in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, and it will be available for purchase on iTunes and elsewhere in North America on May 10. It’s called “Deliver Us”, and of course the thing is already up on YouTube — which means it’s now on our site (after the jump).

The days of Whoracle and Clayman are of course long gone — “Deliver Us” doesn’t constitute a revival of that style. But I do like the track. Quite melodic, of course, with pulsing keyboards in the mix and a catchy main riff. Clean singing in the chorus, of course, but the chorus is staying in our heads. I’m finding this a step up from the last album. What do you think? (Hear the song after the jump.) Continue reading »

SLAUGHTER SURVIVORS TOUR

 Metal News  13 Responses »
May 072011
 

If you live in the U.S., you may remember that the promoters of this year’s SUMMER SLAUGHTER tour conceived a creative piece of marketing by allowing fans to vote from among a list of 11 bands for the last act to fill up the touring line-up. Within the Ruins won that vote and will be joining The Black Dahlia Murder, Whitechapel, Darkest Hour, Six Feet Under, Dying Fetus, As Blood Runs Black, Oceano, and the almighty Fleshgod Apocalypse on SUMMER SLAUGHTER.

Rumors have been circulating that the promoters would organize a second tour featuring bands from the voting list that didn’t get selected via the Facebook ballot-stuffing . . . uh, voting. Well, now that’s been confirmed by the tour promoters. There will indeed be a SLAUGHTER SURVIVORS tour, and this will be the line-up:

CONDUCTING FROM THE GRAVE
THE CONTORTIONIST
SCALE THE SUMMIT
RINGS OF SATURN
VOLUMES
STRUCTURES

The tour will run from late July to late August. The cities and venues haven’t been announced yet, but we’ll get you that info as soon as we have it.

Note that Scale the Summit have been included, even though they weren’t on the voting list. That’s a cool development. Unfortunately, some of the best bands on that voting list who didn’t get selected aren’t included on this SURVIVORS tour, ie, Revocation, Neuraxis, Augury, 7 Horns 7 Eyes, Dawn of Ashes.

FILLER: AJATTARA, DEGRADEAD, AND CHROME DIVISION

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
May 072011
 

We’re all set to go with a milestone post for today, but we’re coordinating it with another metal blog, and we need to wait for them to give us the green light — which hasn’t arrived quite yet.

So, rather than leave you wondering whether we’re alive or dead while we wait, we’ve quickly compiled a few things to amuse you until the post we actually planned for today can be unleashed.

Most of the music we’re including comes from bands who we’ve planned to write about in more depth (and with luck, we’ll still do that): Ajattara and Degradead. Plus, we’ll throw in a brand new video from Chrome Division, a Norwegian band featuring Dimmu Borgir frontman Shagrath on guitar. It’s more of a hard rock song than the kind of metal we cover at NCS, but the video is a blazingly creative work of art, featuring imagery thats never been used in hard rock or metal videos before.

Okay, that last sentence isn’t accurate. Actually, we were totally bullshitting you. The video is full of voluptuous chicks flashing voluptuous amounts of tits and ass. But hey, who doesn’t like tits and ass?  (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

A HISTORY LESSON FROM DYING FETUS

 Metal News  3 Responses »
May 062011
 

It pays to check your e-mail, especially when you get e-mails like the press release I just saw. Here’s the news: Dying Fetus will release a limited edition “mini-LP” this summer to mark the band’s 20th anniversary. Entitled History Repeats…, it will include cover tracks from bands who have influenced Dying Fetus, including Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower, Cannibal Corpse, and Pestilence, plus a new Dying Fetus track exclusive to this release.

The mini-LP will be limited to 5,000 copies worldwide and it’s scheduled for a July 19 North American release through FYE stores and Relapse Mailorder exclusively. Additional information and pre-orders are available here.

Now this is my kind of history lesson. Maybe school-boards nationwide can be convinced to put this on high school curriculums so the youth of our nation can be educated properly. It would sure beat the hell out of lots of crap courses I had to sit through. Stay with us past the jump to see the awesome track-list for this baby. Continue reading »

SIGNINGS

 Metal News  12 Responses »
May 062011
 

Earlier this week, our bro BadWolf put up a note of well-deserved congratulations to Battlecross on their signing with the formidable Metal Blade label. Yesterday, we saw news of two other signings by bands we dig mightily — Fleshgod Apocalypse and Malfeitor. We’re mightily happy about that, especially because of the accompanying confirmation that we’ll have albums from both bands in our not-so-distant future.

FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE

On April 5, our favorite Italian metal band, Fleshgod Apocalypse, put up this note on their Facebook page: “We are really hard at work on a brand new album for a summer release. Ideally during Summer Slaughter Festival in North America. We are seeking a new home as well.” As of yesterday, they found their new home, with the announcement of a worldwide deal with Nuclear Blast Records. It’s worth remembering that these dudes have only produced two releases — Oracles (2009) and the Mafia EP (2010) — and yet they’ve ridden those attention-grabbing albums to considerable critical and popular acclaim, paving the way for this auspicious label signing.

And yes, yesterday’s announcement included the confirmation that  the band are currently wrapping up work on a second full-length album with an expected release date “sometime around this year’s Summer Slaughter Tour.” Which is just fuckin’ peachy. Truth be told, this band’s appearance on Summer Slaughter is what I’m most anticipating from that tour. It will be especially sweet to hear them play songs from a brand new album. Congratulazioni a Fleshgod Apocalypse!  (more after the jump . . . including tunes) Continue reading »

FINNS FOR FRIDAY: MAGENTA HARVEST AND NORTHER

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  5 Responses »
May 062011
 

This seemed like a good day to check in with some Finnish metal bands. Actually, every day is a good day for that, Finland being the most metal country on the planet, human pound for human pound. We picked two bands to feature in this post. The first one, Magenta Harvest, I’ve been meaning to write about for months. I continue to tell myself that late is better than never, which is true of many things, not including rectal cancer.

The other focus of this post is Norther. We knew their next album was coming out sometime soon, but it still managed to sneak up on us, notwithstanding our ninja-like senses. Last month, Circle Regenerated was released in Finland first and then elsewhere in Europe before April ended. I still haven’t found an official North American release date from Century Media for the CD yet, though it’s now available as an import — and the digital album has been available at Amazon MP3 and iTunes since April 19.

Unfortunately, I only got the album yesterday, so I still haven’t listened to the whole thing, but we’ll have some Norther music to finn-ish off this post anyway.  But first, let’s talk about . . . Continue reading »

CINCO DE MAYO METAL

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
May 052011
 

Before I left Texas more than a decade ago, I used to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, usually by getting wasted. Most everyone I knew back then would celebrate the day. Usually by getting wasted. Here in Seattle, it’s hard to find many people who realize what day it is or do anything to commemorate it. But I still remember. So, it’s time to get blasted – by some Mexican metal (though I do think there’s also some tequila in my future tonight).

I found three Mexican bands who will set up the blast effect quite nicely. All three happen to have recent releases: Omision, Zombiefication, and Warfield. If you’re in the mood for old-school death metal done right, then you’re going to enjoy these first two bands. The third one will give you a quality acid bath of black metal, in the vein of Watain. I really like these three bands.

OMISION

Omision is a death-metal band from Tijuana that features past and present members of Sadistic Intent and Infinitum Obscure. This band has been around since 1993, with a three-year hiatus along the way – and along the way, they self-released three demo’s before finally getting a label release of their debut album, In the Shadow of the Cross. You gotta admire that kind of persistence.

According to a press release we received, the new album “is recommended for fans of old school death in the vein of Terrorizer, Possessed and like-minded rippers.” Say no more! Let’s have some music! And so we shall. Continue reading »

ÄRA KRÂ

 Album Reviews  11 Responses »
May 052011
 

Life in your teens, your 20’s, your 30’s, maybe after that too, maybe it never ends, all these things happen:

You step forward, you fall down, you’re bruised, you get up. You face life, you shrink from it. You exult in the day, it kills you. You believe in the future, you dread it.

You look at yourself, but never see yourself as others do. You like yourself, you hate yourself. You rage, you laugh, you cry, you shout. You’re restless, you’re rootless, you’re rooted and happy where you are.

You work hard, you wonder why you do, you feel like it’s all a waste, the work makes you feel alive, it imprisons you. You focus, you can’t focus, your head spins, the world spins.

You fall in love, because that’s what our kind does. You go crazy with the feeling, it strikes you down. It completes you, it sacrifices you. It’s reciprocated, or it’s not. Either way, you’re helpless.

You try to control your life, and the ones you love, and the ones you detest, because that’s what our kind does. You seek order, security, safety, or you seek anarchy and chaos because you believe that will come, eventually, whatever you do. You believe you can change your future, you surrender to whatever will come.

You’re stronger than you think, you misjudge your strengths. You admire strength in others, you misjudge where strength lies that’s worth admiring. You resent authority, you try to impose your will on others. You’re generous, you’re selfish, you learn from mistakes, you repeat them over and over. You need friends, you give your friendship to the wrong people, you’re befriended by people you may not deserve. You trust when you shouldn’t, you’re suspicous at the wrong times. You’re fearless, you’re fearsome, you’re fearful. Continue reading »

DEVIN TOWNSEND CONSTRUCTS A SUPER-GROUP ON “DECONSTRUCTION”

 Metal News  8 Responses »
May 042011
 

Devin Townsend will be releasing two albums on June 21 via InsideOut Music, Ghost and Deconstruction. According to DT, Deconstruction will be “brutal in a lot of parts, but pretty glorious in others. It rides the fence of negativity but ultimately ends supremely positive.” As for Ghost, he says it “is the mellowest (by far) and prettiest record I’ve done so far” with a “very wonderful vibe.” So, guess which one we’re more interested in hearing?

Our interest in Deconstruction was piqued today by seeing additional details about the album (which we’re late noticing), and in particular about the guest musicians who participated in recording the songs. Let’s start with the skins: There will be two different drummers — Ryan Van Poederooyen (Terror Syndrome, The Devin Townsend Band) for the “crushing stuff,” and Dirk Verbeuren (Soilwork, Scarve, Aborted) for the “inhuman stuff.”

But that’s just for starters. Check out this list of additional guest musicians who will appear on the album:

* Mikael Åkerfeldt (OPETH, BLOODBATH)
* Ihsahn (EMPEROR)
* Tommy Rogers (BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME)
* Joe Duplantier (GOJIRA)
* Greg Puciato (THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN)
* Floor Jansen (AFTER FOREVER, REVAMP)
* Oderus Urungus (GWAR)
* Paul Masvidal (CYNIC)
* Fredrik Thordendal (MESHUGGAH)
* Paul Kuhr (NOVEMBER’S DOOM)

That’s a pretty fucking good advertisement for Deconstruction, don’t you think? After the jump, you can see the track list and which songs feature which of these guests. Continue reading »

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