SHORT BUT SWEET: RETALIATORY MEASURES

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  12 Responses »
Jun 222011
 

In these SHORT BUT SWEET posts, we’ve been catching up with EPs released by both well-known and not so well-known bands from near and far. A couple weeks ago, we got a message from one of our Finnish readers whose NCS name is jeimssi, recommending that we give a listen to a band from Pori, Finland, called Retaliatory Measures, and so we have. And since we’ve already started the week with posts on Monday and Tuesday about Finnish metal discoveries, I thought we might as well just continue going with the flow on that.

Retaliatory Measures are relative newcomers. To date, they’ve released two EPs, the most recent of which is the subject of this post. It’s called MMX and it was released in December 2010. The EP delivers six songs, and I liked every one of them — even the brief intro track, which begins with an accomplished acoustic guitar instrumental before turning on the jets and charging seamlessly into the EP’s first full song, “Judgement”. In fact, my only real criticism of the EP is that the intro should have been integrated into “Judgement” as a single standalone track.

But that’s a minor criticism. MMX is a fast-paced package of death/thrash that hammers like a nail gun, with killer riffs, dark melodies, and truly bestial vocals. This regrettably short collection of songs will get stuck in your head like a big iron spike — and with the band’s permission, we’ll give you the chance to download it for free.  (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

BRYMIR: “RETRIBUTION”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  11 Responses »
Jun 212011
 

In Norse legend, the giant Ymir gave his life to create the world, and after the world’s end in the fires of Ragnarök, the souls of the honourable shall feast eternally in the sacred hall of Brimir. Or so I’ve read in the biography of a Finnish band from Helsinki called Brymir, who took their name as a conflation of Ymir and Brimir — representing the beginning and the end, before and after.

Brymir released their debut album, Breathe Fire To the Sun, on Spinefarm Records in April. I missed that news, but what I didn’t miss was the band’s official music video that became available today for a song called “Retribution”. Visually, the video employs an often-used theme in extreme metal videos — the scourging punishment of a man by unknown forces for unknown reasons, alternating with shots of the band playing against a black backdrop and in the great outdoors. Although the visual theme isn’t breaking any new ground, it’s well-executed.

The music may not be breaking any new ground either, but man did it hit my sweet spot. The song is a powerful, symphonic blast of melodic death metal with a pagan flavor. It conveys an epic, even cinematic, sweep, with a cavalcade of hard-charging riffs and anthemic keyboards. The vocals, which mix the unclean and the clean, are also quite good. This got my day off to a really nice start. If you’re a fan of bands such as Wintersun and Ensiferum, this video is worth checking out — and you can do that after the jump. Continue reading »

ODDZ AND ENDZ: UNKIND, DEATH, AND ATHEIST

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Jun 212011
 

I’ve been visiting family in Texas, and that’s cut into the time I need to finish reviews of new albums I’ve been working on. Yes, I know — my priorities are screwed up, but there you have it. Anyway, today I’m doing as I did with yesterday’s second post and just throwing together a variety of things that caught my attention as I snooped around the web last night.

The major difference between yesterday and today is that I now have my earbuds again and I’ve actually listened to the music before tossing it your way, so I can vouch for what I’ve got today (for what that’s worth): First, a badass new song from Finland’s Unkind. Second, a remixed and re-mastered version of the song “Suicide Machine” taken from the forthcoming reissue of the Human album by Death. And third, a professionally filmed, multi-camera capturing of Atheist‘s entire set at France’s Hellfest festival on June 19.

UNKIND

This Finnish band is, for me, a relatively recent discovery. They were signed to Relapse Records last September and they have a new album scheduled for release on August 2 in NorthAm and August 15 internationally. Titled Harhakuvat, it will be their fifth studio release. The band have just posted a song from the album called “Laumasielut” on their Facebook and MySpace pages, and I really like it. Though the band is described as a hardcore act, this new song’s prog influences are evident. The song is sweeping, crushing, beautifully played, and I’m really digging it.  (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

TAKING IT ON FAITH: NEW CHIMAIRA SONGS PLUS MAYHEM, AT THE GATES, AND MORE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Jun 202011
 

Surely, I’ve done stupider things here at NCS than I’m about to do, though I can’t remember when.

So, in catching up with metal news this morning, I found a whole bunch of shit that peaked my interest. To decide whether it was all worth sharing with you, I needed to listen to some music. I reached for my trusty iPod to get the earbuds and plug them into my laptop, and . . . no fucking iPod. No fucking earbuds.

I’m in Texas visiting my mother and brother, and I think I left my iPod at my mom’s place yesterday, but at the moment I’m earless (and my hearing is too shot to make out very much from the tinny, crappy little speakers on my laptop). But I decided, fuckit, I’m going to share the items I’ve found with you even though I haven’t heard most of them. Maybe you’ll tell me whether it was worthwhile.

Here’s the line-up: Chimaira has debuted two new songs from The Age of Hell album, which is due for release in late August by Long Branch Records in Europe and eOne Music in NorthAm. One is streaming exclusively at MetalSucks (here) and one at Revolver (here). You can buy both of them at iTunes right now. As I said, I haven’t heard them, though I’m a Chimaira fan. I hope they’re good. I bet they will be. If you haven’t already heard, the new Chimaira line-up includes two of the dudes from Daath — Emil Werstler (on bass!) and Sean Z. (on keyboards!).

After the jump . . . performance videos from Mayhem and At the Gates at festivals this past weekend, plus news about full-album streams from In Flames and The Devin Townsend Project. Continue reading »

THE KONSORTIUM: A REVIEW

 Album Reviews  6 Responses »
Jun 202011
 

Not long ago we came across a song called “Lik Ulven” (Like the Wolf) by a mysterious Norwegian band called The Konsortium, and wrote about it here. You can’t like a song as much as we liked that one and then just let it go. So we wrote Agonia Records and politely requested the chance to hear the entire forthcoming album, which will include that song. To be honest, there may have been some pathetic begging involved — but we got our wish.

Three years in the making, The Konsortium’s self-titled debut takes the caustic machinery of black metal and brashly drives it in some very interesting and creative directions. Much as Anaal Nathrakh has done, The Konsortium embeds within their songs a melodic core, often expressed by memorable clean vocals (which are quite varied but usually have a somewhat inhuman, wailing quality reminiscent of Dave Hunt‘s), but they’ve surrounded those briefly emerging melodies with one powerful sonic assault on the senses after another.

The vocals on the album (which include guest contributions by Kvelertak‘s Erlend Hjelvik) are certainly one of its more unusual features. They include deep, demonic, abraded roars; throaty, agonizing howls; wolfish barking; baritone chanting; clean vocal harmonies; and those rising wails that will make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Sometimes they have an over-the-top theatrical quality, and sometimes they sound like something that just wants to tear your guts out. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

FLOURISHING

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Jun 192011
 

Flourishing is a three-man band from New York City consisting of Garett Bussanick (Wetnurse) (guitar, vocals), Eric Rizk (bass), and Brian Corcoran (drums). They have a debut album due in July (The Sum of All Fossils) that’s been described in a press release as a layering of “subterranean industrial vibe”, “ground-level brutality”, and “an astral use of melody”.

In deciding whether to listen to an advance copy of the album, I checked out a song from the band’s 2010 debut EP, A Momentary Sense of the Immediate World, which is streaming at their Facebook page. The song is called “Fixture”. I fucking love it; so much happens in this 3:52 of music that I’m not even going to attempt to describe it. I just have to share it with you. I will definitely be listening to the new album. Here’s “Fixture”. That is all.

[audio:https://www.nocleansinging.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/02-Fixture.mp3|titles=Flourishing – Fixture]

STRING METAL

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  11 Responses »
Jun 192011
 

This post was inspired by some recent shit-shooting with NCS writer Israel Flanders and Quigs over at The Number of the Blog. By coincidence, they both sent me links to metal bands who feature stringed instruments. I don’t mean guitars and bass. I mean other instruments with strings, the kind you don’t usually see in metal bands. And the music they sent made me think of another example of string metal, so I’m adding that to the post, too.

I can’t say I usually go for this kind of music, though it does give us a change of pace in what we usually cover around here. What do you think of metal that features strings? And do you have any other recommendations along these lines? Think about that as we move into today’s examples:

IN LEGEND

In Legend is a 3-man band from Berlin who just released their debut album Ballads ‘n’ Bullets. Israel sent me a link to one of their songs, asking the question, “piano metal?” And yes, that’s possibly one label that would fit, because the piano is the lead instrument in this music. Largely self-taught pianist Bastian Emig (who can’t read music) uses the keys as much as a percussion-generator as a melody generator, and it’s that hammering attack which may qualify this music as metal. Perhaps this isn’t surprising since Emig is also a drummer (and plays in that capacity with a capella metal band Van Canto).

And before any piano-savvy readers jump my ass, I do realize that the piano is in fact a percussion instrument, its notes produced by hammers striking strings, which is why I’m including this band’s music in a post called “String Metal”. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

NECRONAUT SUPERGROUP: FIRST AND PROBABLY LAST LIVE PERFORMANCE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Jun 182011
 

Necronaut is the all-star project of Fred Estby, the former drummer of Dismember and Carnage. He recruited an impressive line-up of guests to help create an album that was released last year. It was one of many 2010 albums that rocked my head but I never got around to reviewing for NCS. All I could manage was a short “teaser” that I wrote before disappearing on vacation last November. Hardly what the album deserved, but all my feeble self could manage.

Now check out the names of the people who collaborated with Estby on this album, and note that I’ve put an asterisk alongside some of them:

* Hellbutcher (NIFELHEIM)*
* Tyrant (NIFELHEIM, DAGGER)*
* Andreas “Drette” Axelson (TORMENTED, ex-EDGE OF SANITY)*
* Chris Reifert (AUTOPSY, ex-ABSCESS)
* Ulf “Uffe” Cederlund (DISFEAR, ex-ENTOMBED)
* Janne “J.B.” Christofferson (GRAND MAGUS)*
* Tomas Lindberg (DISFEAR, AT THE GATES, THE GREAT DECEIVER)*
* Nicke Andersson (DEATH BREATH)*
* Joakim Nilsson (GRAVEYARD)
* David Blomqvist (DISMEMBER, SHREDS OF DEATH)*
* Erik Danielsson (WATAIN)*
* Robert Pehrsson (DEATH BREATH, DUNDERTÅGET)*
* Robert “Strings” Dahlqvist (DUNDERTÅGET)

So, why did I add those asterisks?  Because those people joined Estby for a Necronaut concert at this year’s edition of the Sweden Rock Festival, which was held June 8-11, 2011 in Sölvesborg. And in addition to them, L.G. Petrov (Entombed) also performed with the band. And some decent-quality video of that show has surfaced. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

DECAPITATED! (UPDATE)

 Metal News  5 Responses »
Jun 172011
 

Poland’s Decapitated have a new album scheduled for release via Nuclear Blast on July 12 in North America and July 15 in Europe. Entitled Carnival Is Forever, it’s been on our “most anticipated” list since the beginning of the year. We’ve been greedily tracking the news, with our last update about the album here (focusing on the cover art and the title). Now we’ve got more exciting news to report.

Nuclear Blast has uploaded a sampler consisting of excerpts from the album. It gives you enough of a taste of the music to form some impressions. For example, I’m hearing a lot of djenty riffs in these songs, plus lots of crushing groove, squalling guitar solos, off-kilter rhythms, and technically interesting rhythmic counterpoint going on.

But the dominant impression I’m getting is that this is going to be an absolutely killer slab of extreme metal that justifies all our high expectations. Why I haven’t already listened to the copy I’ve got is a mystery. Well, actually, it’s not such a mystery. I’m just a fucking moron, and that’s all there is to it.

Go past the jump and listen to that sampler. You’ll be glad you did.  (credit to Heavy Blog Is Heavy for alerting me to this sampler) Continue reading »

BIG CHOCOLATE AND SUICIDE SILENCE INFLICT HUMAN VIOLENCE

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  16 Responses »
Jun 172011
 

The Black Crown is the third album by Suicide Silence, scheduled for release via Century Media on July 11. I’ve started listening to it, and so far, so good. I’m especially enjoying a song called “Smashed”, which features the inimitable Frank Mullen (Suffocation) on guest vocals.

We’ll get around to reviewing the album eventually, but that’s not what this post is about. This post is about a remix of one of the album’s songs called “Human Violence”. That was the record’s first single, released for streaming on May 13. What we discovered yesterday is that Cameron “Big Chocolate” Argon has remixed “Human Violence”, and the remix is available for free download.

Big C has done this before, remixing a Suicide Silence single called “Disengage” about a year ago (we featured that here). You probably remember that he also collaborated with Suicide Silence frontdude Mitch Lucker on a project called Commissioner. Now he’s brought his remix skills to bear again — and what he’s done with “Human Violence” is a fuckin’ kick in the head.

Big C brings a fluctuating industrial vibe to the original song while preserving the screaming, groovy fury of the original. It will make you want to bounce, careen off walls, punch things, whip your head all the way around. Check it out after the jump, and then we’ll let you know how you can download the thing for yourselves. Continue reading »

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