VADER RELEASES A DECAPITATING NEW SONG

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  13 Responses »
Aug 052011
 

All of you know how very, very stoked we are here at NCS for the release of the new album from Poland’s Vader, Welcome To the Morbid Reich. About a month ago, we got the first song from the album, “Come and See My Sacrifice”, and now we have a second one: “Decapitated Saints”, which appears to be a re-recording of a song that first appeared on the band’s 1989 demo, Necrolust.

I’m so damned excited to share this with you that I’m not even going to waste time trying to describe it to you. Fuck, you’re going to listen to it anyway, right? (If the answer to that question is No, please keep it to yourself.) After the jump, stream “Decapitated Saints”, but first be sure you’ve tied your head down firmly to your neck and shoulders. Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT, PART 16: COMMUNIC

 THE SYNN REPORT  2 Responses »
Aug 052011
 

(Time for another SYNN REPORT. Today, Andy looks back at the discography of Norway’s Communic, and on Monday we’ll have his review of the band’s brand new album, “The Bottom Deep”.)

Hailing from Kristiansand, Norway, yet bucking the common trends one associates with Norwegian music – no rotten, corpse-painted fury or leather-clad, aggressive sleaze to be found here – prog-metal 3-piece Communic pursue a huge, multi-faceted sound that takes in recognisable elements from a multiplicity of metal sub-genres, swallowing up thrashy rhythms, soaring vocals, labyrinthine song structures, adaptable string-work and elaborate, eloquent drumming, melting them down to their constituents in order to re-forge them anew into a whole far greater than the mere sum of the parts.

Each of the three members is a vital component in crafting the complex and convoluted mini-epics which make up Communic’s various records; Tor Atle Andersen’s drums are a sheer delight to experience, over and over again playing subtle rhythmic shifts off against pounding artillery fire, Erik Mortensen’s flowing, liquid bass lines adding both depth and power in equal measure, while frontman Oddleif Stensland draws from a seemingly bottomless well of scything riffs and piercing, emotional solos. The way these three individuals play off one another is mesmerising, creating a vast soundscape of progressive instrumentalism one second, locking into a devastating metallic groove the next. The breadth of their sound and the sheer array of sonic textures they are able to conjure is a testament both to their striking individual personalities and to their collective focus and the musical identity they have built.

For all their soaring, epic compositions, the band are careful to maintain a strong foundation of armour-plated riffs which make their layered, expansive sound a legitimately heavy concern. At times soft and soothing, at others hard and pounding, these Norwegian progsters have perfected a precise balance between melancholy clarity and crushing power that serves as a perfect foil to their dark, often wilfully complex, subject matter. (more after the jump, including tracks to stream from each album . . .) Continue reading »

GIANT SQUID

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Aug 052011
 

Our metallic bro BadWolf e-mailed me late yesterday with news that NorCal’s Giant Squid has a new album on the way, with a new song posted for streaming. On the one hand, Giant Squid’s music isn’t my usual kind of thing. If you amalgamated various genre tags that the band itself uses, I think that would be a fair description: post-metal-art-doom-rock-sludge. I also have trouble with Aaron John Gregory’s quirky, high-pitched, occasionally screechy style of clean singing.

On the other hand, the music on the band’s last album (the only one I’ve heard) — The Ichthyologist — was original, unpredictable, and uninhibited, and I can respect that, even if it hasn’t seen many plays on my iPod. Plus, I do like the band’s use of down-tuned sludge-chords in juxtaposition with airier melodies. Plus, there’s that album cover for the new one, Cenotes, which is due for release on October 25 on Translation Loss Records. Fucking great, weird piece of art, also created by Aaron John Gregory. Plus, we’ve already gone off our usual beaten path today with that deathstep thing.

After the jump, you’ll find a player that will stream the first song to be released from Cenotes, “Figura Serpentinata (Pycnopodia sapien)”. The track list for the new album, plus streams of the band’s previous discography can be found at their Bandcamp page or their facebook. Continue reading »

DEATHSTEP: FUCKING GOOD PANCAKE OR MASSIVE WALL OF PENIS?

 Album Reviews  22 Responses »
Aug 052011
 

At NCS, we do our best to cover a broad swath of metal, but there’s one genre we’ve almost completely ignored — that union of dubstep and death metal known as deathstep. There are reasons for that, principally because your humble author knows virtually fuck-all about the genre and has a low tolerance for electronica. I say “almost completely ignored” and “virtually fuck all” because once upon a time we did pay attention (here) to a remix by Cam Argon (Big Chocolate, Disfiguring the Goddess) of a Suicide Silence song. In addition, occasional NCS guest writer The Artist Formerly Known As Dan (who, by the way, needs to send me more posts!) provided this feature about dubstep, which included one of the deathstep tracks created by the Cam Argon-Mitch Lucker collaboration known as Commissioner.

Earlier this week, I got an e-mail from NCS reader and musician Ray Heberer (who has some big news on the way about several of his projects — but more on that later) suggesting that deathstep is worth more attention. As Ray pointed out, prototypes of the genre have been popping up with increasing frequency, but you won’t find much of it dating back more than a year — it may be the first new metal genre of this decade. Does that mean it’s worth anyone’s time? Well, that’s the question, innit?

I’m certainly not yet prepared to shower deathstep with accolades, and I have little doubt that metal elitists (which means about 99% of all metalheads) are or will be inclined to vomit all over the style at the slightest provocation. But while withholding judgment about the budding genre as a whole, I definitely am prepared to shower some accolades on one example of the genre that Ray turned me onto in his e-mail. It’s a full-length album — as far as I know, the first full-length deathstep production, period. Not only is it an album-length work, it’s one song — 39:54 in length — and it’s available for free download.

And, unexpectedly, it’s unusually good. Ray wrote that it may be a genre-defining piece of music, and he may be right. The musician goes by the name Switchup, the album is called Hell’s Symphony. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

“THAT’S METAL!” – BUT IT’S NOT MUSIC (NO. 43): THE BLUE FUCKING ANGELS

 That's Metal -- But It's Not Music  9 Responses »
Aug 042011
 

In Seattle, the city near the metallic island that NCS calls home, there is a summer tradition called Seafair, which is just about to begin. It’s been going on since the 1950s. It involves things like hydroplane racing on Lake Washington, a Boeing air show, music concerts (no metal, of course), both US and Canadian naval warships on parade, human parades, and copious drinking and eating. But my favorite part of the festival is the air show put on by The Blue Angels.

For those of you living outside the US, The Blue Angels are a squadron of Navy pilots who perform aerial acrobatics using F/A-18 Hornet aircraft flying at the speed of holyfuckwhatwasthat! They perform for 2 days in a row (this weekend), and they have practice runs for two days before the performance (the first of which happened to be today). They’re loud — louder than a drunken fuck in a thin-walled motel. In fact, they’re so distracting that a major interstate highway in their flight path is shut down when they’re practicing and performing. You can imagine how drivers feel about that.

Yes, The Blue Angels are metal, but that’s actually not what this post is about. What this post is about is an Onion-style piece of reporting about The Blue Angels in an internet mag called The Seattle Salmon. It so perfectly captures the tight-sphincter side of Seattle culture, and it’s so goddamned hilarious that I have to put it up, verbatim, right after the jump. It is definitely metal. The title of the piece? “Seattle’s Pussies Prepare To Bitch About The Blue Fucking Angels”. Continue reading »

BATTLECROSS’ PURSUIT OF HONOR; or AMERICA FUCK YEAH!

 Album Reviews  7 Responses »
Aug 042011
 

(NCS contributor BadWolf weighs in with his thoughts about the new Metal Blade release from Battlecross.)

In the interest of full disclosure, readers beware: I have a personal interest in Battlecross. I have known them from the earliest demo tapes, been involved in their scene for years, pimped their debut album endlessly, and have a vested interest in their success.

None of that changes that Pursuit of Honor, their debut album on Metal Blade, is a triumphant achievement, as well as a testament to the perseverance of Detroit, and the virility of modern American metal.

Let’s take the story back five years. I was a freshman at a liberal arts college in Michigan and met my best friend there. At that time I was metal to the bone but wholly disinterested in modern metal. He changed that with two albums: Lamb of God’s Sacrament, Trivium’s Ascendency. Suddenly I got the connection between the late-80’s thrash titans I worshipped and contemporary metal.

Months later Machine Head’s The Blackening was released and I was adrift in the middle of the American metal renaissance. This style is directly descended from Slayer, Pantera and Metallica, but incorporated the mosh-friendly rhythm of hardcore and the triumphant melodicism of European death metal. After a Trivium gig that year, my BFF and I sat up drinking 40’s of Miller Lite and jamming to the Battlecross demo we got in the parking lot. The next year that style was dead—suffocated by pop-metalcore (which we rejected) and the prog-death explosion (which we embraced).

Flash forward to now and the style is attempting to revive: Revocation are trying to cash in on their critical acclaim, as are Lazarus A.D., and finally Machine Head are releasing the follow-up to The Blackening. None of that matters: Battlecross have revived the genre all their own. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

THE ERLANDSSON BROTHERS TEAR IT UP AT TUSKA

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Aug 042011
 

Adrian and Daniel Erlandsson are brothers, both of whom started playing drums at an early age in their home in Malmö, Sweden. Adrian went on to become the drummer for bands such as At the Gates, The Haunted, and Cradle of Filth, and currently plays for Brujeria and Paradise Lost. Daniel has been almost as prolific. His work includes drum duties on In Flames‘ Subterranean album, and he’s been the drummer for Arch Enemy since 1998.

By all accounts, both are considered very good at what they do. I’ve admitted before that I’m not a good judge of technical ability; I tend to fall into a state of slack-jawed wonder when I watch almost any capable extreme-metal drummer performing live. I can’t wrap my mind around the stamina, the physical coordination, and the memory skills required to play such intricate rhythms at such high speed for such a long time. But I do know what I like to hear, and I like to hear the Erlandsson brothers at work.

Not long ago, we featured drum-cam footage of Fredrik Andersson of Amon Amarth playing at the recent Tuska music festival in Finland. Now we’ve got drum-cam video of the Erlandsson brothers at the same festival — Adrian performing with the legendary At the Gates, and Daniel with Arch Enemy. I had fun watching these clips, and only a couple of flies entered my open mouth while I watched. I thought you might like this shit, too, so after the jump you can check out the brothers Erlandsson doing what they do best. Continue reading »

JASTA

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Aug 042011
 

(Israel Flanders reviews Jamey Jasta’s new, self-titled solo album. He is expecting some disagreement.)

Ok, so Islander posted a song from this album recently and people didn’t care for it that much. I suspect that many of those opinions were simply pre-conceptions brought on by Jasta’s infamous brocore outfit Hatebreed. Yes, Hatebreed are the bro-est of bros, if there is such a thing as an epitomizing band, but it is unfair to apply it to Jasta in this case. This is really good music that deserves a shot.

So what does Jasta as an album have to offer? This album, according to the man himself, is an amalgamation of all of his musical influences. He plays everything, and wrote everything. Jasta’s preferences seem to cater toward thrash metal, old school hardcore, a taste for some slight metalcore sensibilities, and a little bit of that Crowbar southern sludge weight.

The album opens with “Walk That Path Alone”, a totally old-school throwback hardcore song with a catchy breakdown at the end that doesn’t bore me to tears. The next three songs “Mourn The Illusion”, “Screams From The Sanctuary”, and “Nothing They Say” demonstrate Jasta’s more metalcore leanings. We get to hear for the first time that the man is actually good at clean singing. I know, sounds impossible right? It isn’t. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

BE STILL MY BEATING HEART: DECAPITATED, DECREPIT BIRTH, AND FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE ON TOUR!

 Metal News  27 Responses »
Aug 032011
 

I just saw the news about a new tour beginning at the end of September, and I was so excited it nearly gave me heart failure. Our friends at MetalSucks are sponsoring the 2011 CARNIVAL IS FOREVER NORTH AMERICAN TOUR, headlined by Decapitated and including Decrepit Birth, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Rings of Saturn, and The Haarp Machine.

For my tastes, that is just a stupendously strong line-up. Though I haven’t yet heard The Haarp Machine, I will now hunt down their music with interest, and as for the rest of the bands, well I’m not going to make reference to boners or cum because that would be inconsistent with my previously expressed opinions on the use of such words in metal writing. I will just say that something wet has happened and I am unable to stand up.

After the jump you can see the schedule. I believe it is a fine schedule, because it includes a stop in Seattle. Continue reading »

FUCKING GOOD PANCAKE – Part 3

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Aug 032011
 

This post is devoted to the third of the songs I heard this morning that caused me to shout “FUCKING GOOD PANCAKE!!”, which caused my cat to spontaneously evacuate his bowels, undoubtedly because he is not conversant in Google Translate renditions of Finnish idiom into English. The fact that he is almost 20 years old and now seems prone to spontaneous evacuation may also have something to do with it. However, just to be safe, the next time I hear a song as hot as these three, I plan to whisper fucking good pancake.

This last, but not least, part of my morning discoveries is the latest pre-production track to be posted for listening by The Binary Code.  My admiration for this band goes back to a time when both NCS and the band were in their infancy, so to speak — though The Binary Code never seemed to take baby steps. In their music, they were fully mature from the outset, whereas I’m still breast-feeding.

Although we have written about The Binary Code frequently, reviewing all of their musical output to date, it’s been a while since we checked in with them. They haven’t exactly been sitting still since the release of their Priest EP last summer (reviewed here). Yesterday, they added to their Facebook band page the third of three new pre-production tracks. The latest song is called “Dark Meditations”, and it is indeed a dark, heavy, atmospheric instrumental. Part ambient cloudscape, part jolting, pneumatic riff-fest, part progressive guitar exploration, it’s just fucking good pancake from beginning to end. Cool bass line in this song, too.

Check it out after the jump, and we’ll throw in the first two pre-production tracks for your listening pleasure, too. Both of them are tremendously good. By the way, these may be pre-production tracks, but they sound pretty fucking finished to me. In fact, they sound like The Binary Code’s best work to date. Continue reading »

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