DEMILICH: “20TH ADVERSARY OF EMPTINESS”

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  22 Responses »
Nov 202013
 

One of the most enjoyable things I’ve ever done at NCS was the “FINLAND TRIBUTE WEEK” series back at the end of 2010. It was completely unplanned, beginning on December 1 with a post about Amorphis and then continuing on a daily basis through this post on December 17, fueled by a flood of reader suggestions (most of which are collected here). I discovered so damn much great music across a wide spectrum of metal sub-genres (it was, for example, my first introduction to funeral doom) and learned a lot about the history of Finnish metal as well.

One of the great discoveries I made through that impromptu series was Demilich, a ground-breaking band whose first and last full-length album was 1993’s Nespithe. In my Finland Tribute Week post about Demilich, I provided a lot of info about the band and about Nespithe. I won’t repeat that here, but instead send you back to that post for an explanation about why the album — from its head-spinning music to its coded lyrics and album title — is so damned interesting.

Demilich’s Antti Boman has kept the Demilich flame burning by maintaining a web site for many years on which almost all of Demilich’s recorded output is available for free download (here). But now something else is coming that will send the flames higher, and its name is Demilich: 20th Adversary of Emptiness. Continue reading »

HELP A BROTHER OUT! (A REQUEST FOR GUEST POSTS)

 Metal News  17 Responses »
Nov 202013
 

Yeah, I know, it seems like I was begging for help only last week, but here I am doing it again. I mean, fuck, it worked out so well last week that I’m feeling lucky and rolling the dice again.

Veteran readers of the site will remember that once upon a time I used to take one long vacation every November. And every time I took a vacation, I would beg for guest posts to keep things going. That hasn’t happened in two years, but it’s finally about to happen again — as in Monday of next week (Nov 25). Yes, I’ll be winging my way to the land of milk and honey and will not be returning to the land of rain and mold until December 8. And while I’m away, I won’t be churning out posts with the same maniacal frenzy to which you’ve become accustomed.

Our other regular writers are dedicated, they are tireless, and most importantly they work for free. But it’s too much to ask them to shoulder the burden on their own narrow shoulders alone. Actually, it’s not too much to ask, but they would most likely tell me to go fuck myself. So I’m asking our dedicated, tireless, and uncompensated readers to help them fill the void.

So here’s the deal: If you’ve ever toyed with the idea of writing something for publication at NCS or some other metal blog, now’s a good time to give it a shot. Or maybe you’ve been generous enough to submit guest posts here in the past and might be willing to do it again. Details about this stunning opportunity to do my work for me, free of charge, are after the jump . . .

Continue reading »

AYREON: “THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING”

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule  8 Responses »
Nov 192013
 

(DGR reviews the new album by Arjen Lucassen’s Ayreon project. This is obviously an Exception to Our Rule.)

I have a deep and abiding love for the Ayreon project. Describing it to people on the occasions when I can do so has proven to be an endless source of entertainment because it always ends with someone just going, “That sounds ridiculous”. They’re right too. Ayreon is a ridiculous project, one in the business of making space metal operas filled with multiple characters represented by multiple singers and then having insane guestlists of musicians written up for each one as well.

It’s not so much that I love Ayreon for how well Arjen Lucassen does with the music, but more so because of the absolutely insane amount of ambition that the project has required. He has told stories that span galaxies and cover millenia in the blink of an eye, and he has wrangled some of the best vocal performances out of an amazing array of musicians that I’ve ever heard. It just seems so grand, and when it comes to that, The Theory Of Everything is at face value a concept disc about a father/son team of geniuses working to unite physics of the macro and quantum levels; yes, the whole thing just seems… ridiculous.

No matter how hard outlets like Popular Science, Bad Astronomer, and Io9 try, physics at a granular level isn’t a sexy subject (although googling ‘sexy physics’ has provided hours of entertainment), but the results are. When broken down into layman’s terms and punctuated with pretty pictures, physics can seem incredible, but physics is much like meeting your heroes/watching your favorite food being made. It loses a lot of that appeal when you realize how much bookwork/math/study goes into it. The idea of Ayreon tackling this subject, whilst also dealing with the ideals of a father who feels inadequate because his son ranks somewhere high on the savant/autism range, is remarkable. Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT: AN UPDATE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, THE SYNN REPORT  7 Responses »
Nov 192013
 

(In this post, Andy Synn provides updates about five bands who have been the subject of past SYNN REPORTS (and one “proto Synn Report”): Martriden, Astarte, Anata, V.A.S.T., and Persefone.)

Wow, it’s been almost two months since the last edition of The Synn Report! Where does the time go?

In the intervening time I’ve been very busy, both with work, band stuff, and my personal life (yes, I do have one outside the site… erm, kind of…), and simply haven’t had chance to settle down and get to work on things in the more in-depth way that The Synn Report requires of me!

Don’t worry though, a new edition, with an all-new band, is on its way. In the meantime, I thought we might as well check in with a few updates from those bands we’ve featured here in the past. Continue reading »

INTERVIEW AND OVERVIEW: CODE — “AUGUR NOX”

 Album Reviews, Interviews  6 Responses »
Nov 192013
 

(We hit the trifecta in this post — BadWolf provides an overview of the new album by <code>, an interview of the band’s guitarist/songwriter Aort, and a full stream of the album.)

Augur Nox, the new album by international outfit <code>, is a gift—as in, I was not expecting it, and 2013’s crop of albums is richer for it.

The last time <code> released an album, 2009’s excellent Resplendent Grotesque, it was up for a Spellemann award (Norway’s equivalent to a Grammy), and rightfully so: That record is a roller coaster of dark moods and powerful guitar work, one that pushed the boundaries of what I considered “normal” for a progressive black metal album at that time.

And then, nothing. <code> parted ways with vocalist Khovst, who has a particular talent for high-pitched screeches as well as super-creepy clean singing. Khvost has gone on to work with many other not-particularly-metal-but-still-super-creepy projects, such as folk outfit Hexvessel, and goth rock band Beastmilk (the new Beastmilk LP is pretty fun, as well).

As for Aort… not a peep. Apparently he spent that time searching for a vocalist who could actually compete with Khvost, as well as writing the material that would become Augur Nox. The wait seems to have paid off—the new <code> frontman, Wacian, suits the band perfectly. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: BRODY UTTLEY (RIVERS OF NIHIL)

 Interviews  17 Responses »
Nov 192013
 

What follows in this post was a very cool thing for me to do, given how much I admire Rivers of Nihil, and I hope it’s also a very cool thing for you to read. It’s an interview with one of the band’s uber-talented guitarists, Brody Uttley. This is the kind of interview I feel lucky to do — because the lameness of my questions was surmounted by the thoughtfulness of the answers. And if for some reason you haven’t yet caught on to what this band are doing, I’ll give you a chance to experience your own Eureka! moment at the end.

********

Islander: Thanks for making time to talk with me.  We’ve been following you guys for almost two years at our site, and it’s been a blast to watch what’s happened to you, though I’m sure not as much of a blast as it’s been for you.

Brody Uttley: No problem man! Always great to talk with those who have been watching us grow since the beginning. Things have definitely been very intense lately, between recording the album, doing three tours, and trying to make time for our commitments at home.

 

I: I went back and re-read our first post from January 2012, and the writer wrote this:  “I had the good fortune to see Rivers of Nihil open for Boston slam heavyweights Dysentery a week or so ago, and their precision is unmatched by the vast majority of their peers. It seriously sounded like I was listening to a really loud CD, and anyone who’s played in a band knows that that’s an impressive feat. Mark my words, if they keep this up, this band is going places; talent like this doesn’t go unnoticed for very long.”  Does that show seem like ancient history, given what’s happened since then, or does it seem like yesterday?

B: It honestly seems like it was just yesterday, even though we have grown so much as a band and as individual musicians, it feels very recent that we were playing that show.  We keep in very close contact with all of the Dysentery guys, as well as the Cognitive dudes who were also playing that show.  We keep our oldest friends close, as this industry is constantly shifting and you can never really tell where your “new friends'” intentions lie… Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: SUNN O))), ULVER, TEMPEL, NUFUTIC, and DEMONICAL

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Nov 182013
 

It’s been an action-packed day here at NCS, with some ass to mouth plus three album reviews and two song premieres — and I had two more reviews ready to go, but I’ve deferred those until tomorrow so that we don’t overdose you with awesomenessness. But at the risk of giving you a manic sugar high, I thought I’d round up some of the best things I saw and heard today. We’ll begin with a couple of announcements and end with a new song and a new video

SUNN O))) and ULVER

One week ago I reported about a cryptic announcement by Southern Lord that seemed to suggest a long-rumored collaboration between Sunn O))) and Ulver was about to become a consumable reality. Today we got a more informative announcement, i.e., that these two storied bands have indeed collaborated to create a three-track recording entitled Terrestrials — “a trio of movements which flow like magma beneath the Earth’s crust, sonically uninhibited, unpredictably cosmic, haunting and stirring, yet simultaneously ceremonious and beautiful.”

Southern Lord will be releasing Terrestrials in February 2014, the cover can be seen above, and we are promised that over the course of the next month details shall be dribbled out concerning “the story of how this alliance and recording came to be.” Continue reading »

RANNOCH: “BETWEEN TWO WORLDS”

 Album Reviews  7 Responses »
Nov 182013
 

(Andy Synn reviews the forthcoming debut album by the UK’s Rannoch.)

Every so often an album comes along, pretty much out of nowhere, and absolutely blows you away – sometimes with its technicality, sometimes with its songwriting, and sometimes with its sheer audacity.

Rannoch’s Between Two Worlds blew my mind in every one of these ways, and more.

Do you like Darkane? Opeth? In-Quest? Ihsahn? Bands who take the traditional weapons of heavy metal warfare and stretch them to their breaking point, and beyond? Are you looking for a band capable of melding devastating groove, mesmerising 8-string acrobatics, fluid, rumbling bass lines, and progressive nuance into one cohesive whole?

Then this is the album for you. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: “WHERE FLIES THE RAVEN” BY SOL NEGRO (And A Review of “DAWN OF A NEW SUN”)

 Album Reviews, Premieres  1 Response »
Nov 182013
 

Sol Negro’s Dawn of A New Sun is an absolute gem. Originally released in a limited edition of cassette tapes last year, it’s about to get the full-fledged distribution it deserves via the excellent Mexico-based label Chaos Records. Today we’re giving you a taste of the album by premiering the record’s final track, “Where Flies the Raven”. But first, here are some impressions about Dawn of A New Sun as a whole.

Attempting to categorize the album in genre terms is a challenge. The music is remarkably dynamic, with different songs emphasizing different aspects of what turns out to be Sol Negro’s own very distinctive sound. At different moments I thought of bands such as Obscura and Death (at their most progressively inclined), though shrouded in a mantle of black metal and doom. But as it happens, the reference that may come closest to capturing the band’s core motif lies in the one cover song on the album: “Dead Emotion” by Paradise Lost, a brilliant song from the band’s second album Gothic (1991), which Sol Negro perform brilliantly.

And if all these diverse band references confuse you, trust me when I say that the music is masterfully cohesive. Sol Negro unite elements of doom, progressive death, and black metal to create a genuine feast for the ears. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: “YOUR GOD” BY FEARED (And A Review of “VINTER”)

 Album Reviews, Premieres  3 Responses »
Nov 182013
 

(In this post TheMadIsraeli reviews the forthcoming album by Sweden’s Feared, and we’re also stoked to bring you the premiere of a new Feared song: “Your God”.)

A lot of us music fans, especially metal fans, and even more especially music fans who are musicians, have a good idea (or know very well) what goes into writing an album. It’s something that takes time, commitment, and if you care about your music, a great deal of deliberation over what you’re crafting in order to make it the best and most compelling it can be. But creating music has never really been a process that you can just schedule, put in the time, and expect it to come out fine. Some bands have managed to prove that idea wrong, like The Black Dahlia Murder, who’ve released albums on a reliable schedule and haven’t taken a quality dip. Other bands haven’t fared so well.

Usually, we tend to think of the creation process for an album-length work as a long-term endeavor. As fans, we may bitch about how much time it takes for a band to write and record their next album, but we also tend to become leery when a band releases a new album soon after the one that preceded it. So it’s a surprise that Feared, after releasing a monster of an album earlier this year in Furor Incarnatus, announced they’d be releasing another album this year. Continue reading »

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