KITTIE: “I’VE FAILED YOU”

 Album Reviews  20 Responses »
Sep 072011
 

(Stop rolling your eyes! I know what you’re thinking: Kittie on NO CLEAN SINGING?!? But hold your horses and read Andy Synn’s review. You will be pleasantly surprised.)

Straight off I’ll say this – this is the best Kittie album to date. And I say that as a huge fan of both Oracles and Funeral For Yesterday in particular. However, I think that identifies the crux of Kittie’s occasional problems – the former is clearly the band’s heaviest record, while the latter is clearly their most darkly melodic, and the band have spent the rest of their time trying to marry the two together with varying results, the intervening and subsequent albums pulled in several directions at once by these competing pressures.

Like many of you (and indeed the band themselves at times), I would much rather ignore the existence of the execrable Spit, as the band really only developed into a proper musical entity with the release of the utterly devastating Oracles, whose self-loathing, Obituary-esque stomp and grind was lightened solely by  occasional injections of emotionally fraught, PJ Harvey-channelling clean vocals.

Since then, building from a core of steady, grinding riffs, harsh blackened screams and chilling, ethereal clean vocals, the band (primarily the Lander sisters) have slowly attempted to expand their sound, giving it more energy and life with a steady influx of snappier riffs (“Until The End”), expressive and expansive structuring (“Funeral For Yesterday”) and nuanced leads (“Into The Black”) which, when added to the unflinchingly precise drumming of Mercedes Lander, all mix to create a rich melting pot of ideas from which to draw. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

NCS T-SHIRT UPDATE

 IQ Subtraction, Metal News  11 Responses »
Sep 062011
 

Let’s see now, it was August 7 when we decided to give away NCS t-shirts featuring the eye-catching Dan Arena poster for our fictitious FUCKING GOOD PANCAKE TOUR. Once we had that idea, we jumped on it faster than the crack of a bullwhip, speedier than a bullet fired from a high-powered rifle, so fast that if we’d been flying we’d have created a sonic boom.

Okay, maybe that’s exaggerating just a bit. We actually moved on the idea more like this:

But, we’ve actually made real progress. (more after the  jump . . .) Continue reading »

ABSU PREMIERES A NEW SONG

 Metal News  4 Responses »
Sep 062011
 

Last Thursday, we published BadWolf’s review of Abzu, the next album from Absu. Judging from our internet stats on BadWolf’s post, a lot of people seem to be anxiously awaiting this album, and very interested in hearing what it has to offer. Well, now you can have your first taste of Abzu.

Pitchfork Media, whose audience is somewhat bigger than our own, sort of in the way that Goliath is somewhat bigger than Bambi, was selected to premiere “Abraxas Connexus”, and that song is now streaming RIGHT HERE.

The song is also now available for download via iTunes as a single at this location.

That is all.

IN THE NEWS AND IN THE EARS: CANNIBAL CORPSE, MASTODON, FUCK THE FACTS, AND ANAAL NATHRAKH

 Uncategorized  33 Responses »
Sep 062011
 

Here are four things that got my attention earlier today. I’m betting that everyone who reads this will be interested in at least one of these items. And, just in case that’s a bad guess, we have porn after the jump.

ITEM ONE

I don’t think I have to do anything but excerpt these quotes from the Metal Blade press release. It was enough for me.

Cannibal Corpse has begun recording their twelfth studio album at Sonic Ranch studios in Texas with producer Erik Rutan. The band has spent months writing the album and has recorded at Sonic Ranch in the past, but never with Rutan at the helm. More details on the album, including art, songs, title and more will be revealed in the months to follow. For now, the band is hard at work forging their next death metal offering.

Erik Rutan worked with Cannibal Corpse for both Kill (2006) and Evisceration Plague (2009) and is returning for a third time. Rutan explains further: “I am super excited to work with Cannibal Corpse for our 3rd album together. We are determined to make the best album we possibly can. Everyone is very focused and the new material is awesome. There is a great blend of classic, old school CC with a newer, more heavy, dynamic and aggressive approach. I look forward to the challenge of making one heavy as hell record!”

(more after the jump, including porn . . .) Continue reading »

RED SEAS FIRE

 Album Reviews  5 Responses »
Sep 062011
 

(TheMadIsraeli brings us this review of a new, free EP by Red Seas Fire.)

Red Seas Fire is the baby of Adam “Nolly” Getgood, a guitarist who was quite significant in the early development of the djent scene, trading ideas with other djent giants such as Misha Mansoor or Acle Kahney back in the days when they were just posting random shit on soundclick pages.  It’s been hard for him to be able to reach the point where he could finally produce a professional, totally put-together product to offer to the public, but now we finally have it in Red Seas Fire’s self-titled debut EP.

The EP begins with an instrumental intro that lulls the listener. It’s a bit of ambience, nothing special — that is, until “Epinephrine” comes crashing through your speakers with mammoth, down-tuned grooving assaults and crushes your balls with a sledgehammer.  From this beginning, however, it’s obvious that Red Seas Fire aren’t really a djent project anymore.

Yes, there is a metallic guitar tone and a heavy use of syncopated groove and polyrhythmic attack, but the music has far more in common with Scar Symmetry or Fear Factory then it does Meshuggah or CiLiCe.  The chorus of “Epinephrine” speaks far more of modern melodeath than it does anything else, and the riffs otherwise feel more like something that courses through the veins of brutal industrial metal.  The particular choice of electronic and industrial tones and noises throughout this song cements this impression even further to me. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

DECAYING: “DEVASTATE”

 Album Reviews  7 Responses »
Sep 062011
 

I’m always looking for new death metal played in the old-school style, because few kinds of music push so many of my buttons. I don’t even look for some kind of new spin or tweak, because the whole point of authentic old-school death metal is to be faithful to the hallowed late-80’s and early-90’s progenitors of the genre. But when I do find a band that’s faithful, authentic in their sound, and doing something (extremely well) that’s not commonplace, I really pay attention. And when the band comes from Finland, which is demonstrably the most metal nation on earth (in terms of metal bands per capita), then I’m doubly excited. I’ve got one of those bands for you today.

The band is called Decaying, and it’s only a three-man operation, which provides a hint that the music is likely to be stripped-down and primal. Their debut album, Devastate, was released in May of this year, and it appears it’s being re-released in September by Hellthrasher Productions. It’s a compilation of two Decaying demo tapes, New Order (2010) and The Annihilator (2011). It includes “only” six songs, but it’s not an EP: The running time is 52 minutes, and three of the songs each range in length from more than 11 minutes to more than 14.

Now, add to that information the fact that those long songs are mainly down-tempo affairs, with the band wading through the soul-sucking tar-pit of death-doom. If you’re a fan of monsters like Bolt Thrower and Asphyx, you’ll recognize the style. But 11 – 14 minutes? How, you may ask, does an old-school band like Decaying maintain interest for that long? That turns out to be no problem at all. In fact, I can’t get enough of them. And if you like your old-school death with a heavier foot on the accelerator, don’t worry: The other three songs on the album swing the sledgehammer at your skull with more speed and they’re just as solid as the long ones. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

RAVEN WOODS: “ENFEEBLING THE THRONE”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Sep 062011
 

(NCS guest contributor ElvisShotJFK is back, reviewing the latest release by Turkey’s Raven Woods.)

When doing some shopping online recently, something about Raven Woods’ Enfeebling The Throne caught my attention, leading me to their myspace profile to hear the two songs they had uploaded from the album. I liked what I heard, but I still wasn’t quite sold on getting the album. While looking for something else that I might like that I hadn’t encountered before, I kept coming back to this album, each time being answered with a whispered “you know you want to” in the back of my mind that became harder and harder to ignore. I was still a bit hesitant, but when I finally checked out at CM Distro I heard a triumphant roar in the back of my head. No turning back now. Okay, maybe that’s not quite how it happened, but then again… maybe it did.

The Turkish band was formed in 1998 by bassist Ozan Yildirim and guitarist Cihan Engin; Enfeebling The Throne is only their third release (via Italian label Code 666 earlier this year), preceded by In Silent Agony and their first full-length …And Emotions are Spilled. The band has gone through several lineup changes over the years, with only Yildirim and Engin lasting until now. Joining them are vocalist Kaan Koyuncu, guitarist Emre Üren and drummer Semih Örnek, who takes over from Yildirim, who was unable to find a drummer in Turkey skilled enough for Raven Woods’ music previously. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

PLAYING HAVOK WITH THE CIPHER SYSTEM

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Sep 052011
 

Here are a couple of things I saw at the end of last week that I thought were worth sharing: a drum-cam video of Pete Webber, the talented drummer of Denver’s Havok, doing his thing and a new song from Sweden’s Cipher System, doing their thing. What Havok and Cipher System are both doing in these clips is kicking butt, metaphorically speaking (though my butt actually did feel like it had been kicked after these two songs).

PETE WEBBER / HAVOK

Havok is one of the few current-generation thrash bands who I can get into without reservation. They’ve got hell-on-wheels riffage, nasty throat-scraping vocals, and — yes — a drummer who’s worth isolating with your ears as Havok’s songs barrel through your cranium. Havok will be touring parts of the US and Canada in October and November along with Exhumed, Goatwhore, and Cephalic Carnage. I would knock down doors to see that show — if it were only coming to Seattle, but the farthest west this tour is venturing is Flagstaff, Arizona (Flagstaff? Really?). Sigh. (You can find the schedule here.)

In the drum cam video we’ve got for you right after the jump, Pete Webber plays through a Havok song called “Time Is Up”. It was premiered late last week by Sick Drummer Magazine. This isn’t your usual drum-cam video, with a camera fixed down by the kick pedals and another one looking over the drummer’s shoulder. In this pro-quality footage, there are multiple, shifting camera angles of Webber against a black background. Fun to watch, and “Time Is Up” is a badass song. Continue reading »

NCS LABOR DAY MIXTAPE

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Sep 052011
 

Here in the U.S., today is a holiday for most people. It’s called Labor Day, and it’s intended to celebrate the economic and social contributions of workers. It was established as a federal holiday in 1894, but 30 States had already established state Labor Day holidays by then. Traditionally in this country, it marks the end of summer, and it’s a time when people congregate, drink bucketloads of beer, and stuff themselves with grilled food while enjoying the sunshine (or baking in the heat, depending on where you are).

I thought it would be appropriate for NCS to provide some brain-coring musical accompaniment for today’s revels. Hell, even people who live in countries that don’t have a holiday today might enjoy a bit of brain-coring.

So, I put together a multi-national 15-song mixtape that you can download for free. Over the course of this summer, we wrote about each of the bands whose music is included, and on the track list after the jump, I’ve included links to those posts in case you want to learn more about the bands and the music.

I impulsively compiled this mixtape on the spur of the moment this morning, so I didn’t take the time to ask any of the bands for permission. Instead, I used “deductive reasoning”: Each of these bands have themselves made this music available for free; therefore, I reasoned, they probably wouldn’t care if I made it available for free, too. (more after the jump, including the download link . . .) Continue reading »

SUBSTRUCTURE: “MONOLITH”

 Album Reviews  9 Responses »
Sep 052011
 

(TheMadIsraeli raves here about a new EP from a St. Louis band called Substructure that he says is “essential.”)

A few weeks ago, I wrote a very short post about a djeathcore band Aristeia, and how you needed to grab their debut EP pronto. In that post I mentioned another djeathcore band of even greater quality by the name of Substructure. So you’re wondering, what makes them stand out? This space-themed djeathcore thing seems to be getting out of hand.

Substructure actually accomplishes the space feel AND EVEN MORE. Using extremely ethereal melodic landscapes, instrumentation that sounds like it could be out of a Final Fantasy game, and lush dreamy sections that are only counter-balanced by violent torrents of atonal brutality, contrast is the greatest strength this band has. They’re able to switch gears immediately, almost seemingly at random, and make it flow without a moment’s notice or hesitation. This band takes you on a journey. A JOURNEY I TELL YOU!

“Cassiopeia” opens the EP with twinkling chimes, pleasant synths, and a tapping guitar line with electronic beats behind it until the heavy comes in, unfolding a behemoth-sized melodic soundscape to your ears and properly introducing the monsters that are Substructure. In one minute and forty two seconds the band introduce all the elements encompassed in their sound. It’s almost as if this track serves to give you a pre-listening summary of the level of fucked-the-fuck-up you’re about to be put through. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

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