AGALLOCH AND ANAAL NATHRAKH LIVE

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  17 Responses »
Jul 162011
 

I’ve seen Oregon-based Agalloch perform live only once, but it was one of the best metal shows I’ve ever seen. I felt like the music was a living thing and it had completely swallowed me up. I was literally in a daze for a long time after the show ended at something like 1:30 am, and I hadn’t been using any intoxicants (except the music).

I’ve never seen Britain’s Anaal Nathrakh in a live show, but I hope that’s not too far off in my future. Their catastrophic, vitriolic style of black grind is another kind of all-consuming music, though quite different from Agalloch’s brand of melodic black metal.

Both bands performed at the Scion Rock Fest in Pomona, California, in March, and Scion released professionally filmed videos of the performances late last week. We’ve got a handful of them for you after the jump. Is it the next best thing to being there? No — the next best thing would be walking out of the venue having heard the whole show. But it’s pretty damned sweet.

After the jump, probably my favorite Agalloch song, “Not Unlike the Waves”, plus “Into The Painted Grey”, and then Anaal Nathrakh performing “When the Lion Devours Both Dragon and Child” and “Don Not Speak”. There’s one very weird thing about the AN videos. Continue reading »

A LITTLE SOMETHING WHILE YOU WAIT

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  9 Responses »
Jul 162011
 

This is about the time when we usually post our first something-or-other for the day, but work and life got in the way this time and it won’t be ready for another hour or two. In the meantime, here’s a mystery song for your listening pleasure. It’s from a new album, and the band is from Canada, and that’s all I’ll give away for now. I’ll also promise that this song will make your head move.

[audio:https://www.nocleansinging.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Mystery-song.mp3|titles=Mystery song]

What do you think of that song? Does it remind you of anyone? There’s more coming . . .

CONTRAST THE WATER (UPDATE)

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Jul 152011
 

We’ve run a couple of features in the past about Metal From South Africa and have made some awesome discoveries. We’re waaaaaay late running the third installment of that series, but I’m still on the road in work-drone mode for my day job, and that’s slowing down everything I’d planned to do, including that next installment on SA metal.

But, I do have an update about one of the bands featured previously: Durban’s Contrast the Water. When we wrote about them before (at this location), they were working on completion of their sophomore album and had posted two songs from it for free download. Now, the album (Perseverance) is complete and scheduled for release in August — and the band has decided to put all the songs from the album up on YouTube.

As a selfish fan, I like that strategy — making it easy for people to listen to the album and share individual songs, which is exactly what I’m about to do.  I haven’t yet listened to the entire album. What I did was jump to the last track first, because I’m used to doing things ass-backwards at least half the time (and the rest of the time, I’m ass-forwards).

Track 10 is called “Fallen”, and man, it surprised the hell out of me. It pulls you in right from the start with a hell of a groove and an explosion of jittery riffage — and then it starts changing in some unexpected and fantastic ways. I fucken love the song. Check it out after the jump, and then we’ll give you a link for the rest of the songs. When I get a bit more time, I’m diving into the rest of Perseverance. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: CULT OF ENDTIME

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  4 Responses »
Jul 152011
 

Cult of Endtime is a five-man death-metal machine from Joensuu, Finland, who came to our attention via a Facebook post by the excellent South African band A Walk With the Wicked. Cult of Endtime created a 2010 demo with three songs, which we haven’t yet heard, and then more recently a three-song EP with the most excellent title of Nuclear Witch. Those three songs are what made our playlist.

The world seems to be filled with death metal bands — new, old, and ancient. By our lights, this is good. The more death metal, the better. But with so many choices, how is a poor, confused soul to judge what’s worth hearing? What separates the good from the so-so?

As always, separating the death metal wheat from the chaff comes down to mature songcraft, superb execution, and the right kind of soul — all of which Cult of Endtime have. You listen to these three recent songs, and you would never guess they’re only the fourth, fifth, and sixth songs this band has yet produced for public consumption.

Dense, tarry riffs and a titanic drum beat drown you in a vat of sweet filth. Razor-edged guitar leads carve and decimate. At times, the songs attack relentlessly, at times they roll like a mid-paced phalanx of volcanic magma, but the songwriters didn’t lose sight of the magnetic effect of a convulsive groove. It’s disgustingly evil, and at the same time, the music’s morbid threads of reanimator melody and ghoulish rhythms sink their hooks firmly in your head. (more after the jump, including all three songs . . .) Continue reading »

DEVIN TOWNSEND AND SEPTIC FLESH DRIVE TO WINNIPEG, AND 7 HORNS 7 EYES CONVALESCE

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Jul 142011
 

I’ve never been in a metal band. I fantasize about it sometimes. I’d guess most fans do that at one time or another. But there’s at least one aspect of band life that I think I’d get tired of pretty fast — touring in cramped, dysfunctional vans, sleeping on people’s floors, and eating crap food while on tour. When I was younger, I didn’t think anything about living (and smelling) like an animal. But now that I’m older than dirt, it don’t sound so appetizing any more.

It’s easier to fantasize about being in a band who are successful enough to tour in style, in a big full-comfort bus with a road crew to take care of some of the heavy lifting and assorted other bullshit you’d otherwise have to do for yourself. But even bands like that don’t get to travel in style all the time. Like when the bus breaks down and 15 of you have to get in a van and drive for hours across the flat, featureless landscape of the Canadian prairie. Which is what happened to The Devin Townsend Project and Septic Flesh on the road from Saskatoon to Winnipeg not long ago.

Most hand-made tour videos that I see aren’t all that interesting. Basically, you’ve seen one, you’ve seen ’em all. But Devin Townsend, being the evil creative genius that he is, put together a short video of this cramped van trip that I enjoyed. In terms of what you see, it’s still pretty much in the category of “seen one, seen ’em all”, but the editing and especially the musical soundtrack are cool. Plus, I saw these bands on their current tour (along with Obscura and Children of Bodom), and they were both so tremendous that I couldn’t resist watching this. The video is after the jump.

Also after the jump — news about a newly released 3-song single from 7 Horns 7 Eyes that we recommend highly. Continue reading »

FLOURISHING: “THE SUM OF ALL FOSSILS”

 Album Reviews  7 Responses »
Jul 142011
 

The new album from Flourishing is not for kids, unless they’re kids who grew up fast and hard. It’s not happy music. It’s not party music. It won’t get your head bobbing very often. It’s not music that you’ll be running through the speakers in your mind days later. It won’t lift you up. It’s the sound of catastrophe, the sound of everything falling apart. It will roll over you and break you down.

It’s not music you can really use as background to anything else you’re doing either — it compels you to listen as it grinds over your frail person like some massive machine made for smashing human bones and flesh. I suppose the one thing you could do while listening is launch yourself into a mosh pit with violence on your mind, but that’s about it.

I have no good idea about how to classify this music within standard genre references. At times, it sounds like some kind of virulent black grind — a kind of Anaal Nathrakh-like misanthropic rending, except with more sludge. At times, industrial rhythms take hold in the low end, but if it’s industrial, it’s the sound of a deafening factory that’s consuming itself in an effusion of oily smoke.

At other times, it sounds like a dismembering kind of progressive metal, as in the last part of a song called “In Vivid Monochrome”. In certain stretches, it reminds me of the harrowing brand of hardcore-influenced venom delivered by Pristina (whose last album we reviewed here). At still others, it sounds like a catastrophic cascade of avant-garde experimental metal, reminiscent of Ulcerate.  (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

G.I.S.M.’S “DETESTation”

 Album Reviews, Phro's Posts  17 Responses »
Jul 132011
 

(NCS guest contributor Phro delivers this . . . uh . . . unusual look-back at an unusual album. Make sure you’re not eating or drinking while reading this, unless of course you LIKE having liquids and partially chewed food explosively ejected through your nose.)

I’m gonna go ahead and start this by just linking you to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GISM).  I’ll wait.  It’s kinda important.

Next, watch this:

Now, let’s talk about the album DETESTation by G.I.S.M. (after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

I CAN’T PRONOUNCE THE NAME OF THIS SONG, BUT IT’S FUCKIN’ KILLIN’ ME

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  17 Responses »
Jul 122011
 

Goreaphobia is a Philadelphia-based death metal band with deep roots in the death-metal underground. Not long ago, we saw the news that the band had joined up with the Dark Descent label for the release of their new album, Apocalyptic Necromancy. It’s scheduled for release on August 9, and it features the band’s new guitarist, VJS (Kult ov Azazel, Crimson Moon, Demoncy).

It also features that awesomely eye-catching piece of cover art above, created by Linsey Wasiuta.

Today, Decibel premiered a track from the album called “Xurroth Rreeth N’ves Helm”. I nearly swallowed my tongue trying to pronounce that. I found it easier to use the English translation that appears in parentheses next to that title — “City of Rot and Decay”. And don’t ask me from what language the title words are drawn, because I have no fucking clue.

What I do know is that the song is an absolutely monstrous delight. Goreaphobia guitarist Alex Bouk describes it thusly: “This is one of those songs that just came very easy. To me it has a Venom meets Iron Maiden-type feel to it. This is more of a straight heavy metal track. It sounds like nothing else on the record.”

Well, I sorta hope he’s wrong, because the song is a killer — gore-drenched vocals paired up with a slaughterhouse full of riffs, a filthy guitar solo, and a hard-rockin’ beat. I’m definitely now stoked to hear the rest of this album. Go bang your head at Decibel and let us know what you think, won’t you?

OAK PANTHEON UPDATE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  19 Responses »
Jul 122011
 

On June 30, we posted a little feature on three very promising bands who had come our way. The music was quite different, but what the three bands had in common was less than 100 Facebook “likes”. One of those bands was a three-piece group from Minneapolis called Oak Pantheon. At the time, our friends at Death Metal Baboon had premiered a wonderful track from the band’s then-forthcoming EP, The Void.

Well, as of today, Oak Pantheon have released The Void EP as a “name your price” download on their Bandcamp page (here is the link). I’ve been streaming these five tracks while attempting to do paying work today, and I’m having trouble keeping my mind on my job — because the music is hugely distracting and tremendously appealing. As a gross generalization, it’s folk-influenced black metal with memorable acoustic and electric melodies, infectious rhythms, and a scarifying dose of Nordic vocals. Sweeping beauty and the beast, indeed.

I’m particularly carried away by the predominantly instrumental track called “Architect of the Void Pt I” — carried away and hooked like a fish. If you’d like to check out that song and the rest of the EP while you continue browsing around here, we’ve embedded a player after the jump. I’m already sold — and downloading the EP now.

By the way, Oak Pantheon are up from 74 to 96 Facebook likes since our last post. Go help put them over the century mark, won’t you? (And thanks to reader/musician Ray Heberer for reminding us that today was release day for this EP.) Continue reading »

EARTH CRISIS: “NEUTRALIZE THE THREAT”

 Album Reviews  29 Responses »
Jul 122011
 

(NCS writer Andy Synn reviews the new album by venerable metallic hardcore act Earth Crisis.)

A confession – though my tastes these days run more towards black metal and melodic death metal, when I originally “found” the alternative scene it was through hardcore. Introduced by an older, wiser friend via a series of bootlegged tapes of various hardcore acts (Snapcase, Earth Crisis, Sick Of it All, Vision of Disorder, etc), it was music with a primal grasp of aggression that was totally different from anything else I’d heard. I was familiar with rock and metal, there were bands I really liked in both genres, but the passion of hardcore really hit me hard. I was hooked. And although following my induction into hardcore I got deeper into much heavier styles of metal, ending up discovering the speedy melodic attack of melodic death metal and the oblique darkness of black metal, I still retain a love for the sound and am anxiously awaiting the next V.O.D. record in particular.

But this is about Earth Crisis, once a relentless hardcore force of straight-edge aggression, who after several years in the wilderness returned to the fray with 2009’s To The Death, kicking and screaming with renewed energy and vitality which carried them all the way to the front of the hardcore pack once more.  Now Neutralize The Threat doesn’t make many massive changes from the formula that brought Earth Crisis back to prominence, but it does serve to further cement their position as an unstoppable and fundamental force in heavy music.  (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

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