AN NCS PREMIERE: KAVYK — “HYMNS AND HOLLOW WORDS”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Mar 302015
 

 

Kavyk is the name of a new band from Hammond, Louisiana, whose four members come from the ranks of Legions of Hoar Frost, Celestial Mechanics, Withering Light, Suspended Obscurity, and In Medias Res. They’ve recorded a debut demo that will be released later this year, and today we introduce you to Kavyk’s music through our premiere of one of the demo’s songs: “Hymns and Hollow Words”.

Over the last couple of years, song and album premieres have become a weekly staple at our site. Though we only feature them when we truly enjoy the music, the significant majority of them have come our way from record labels (both large and small). In this case, the song arrived directly from the band — and a brand new band at that. But the song immediately grabbed me, like a cat on a somnolent mouse. And like the cat in that metaphor, it quickly shot an adrenaline charge right through me as its teeth clamped down on my neck. It’s quite an awakening experience. Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT, PART 56: CALLISTO

 THE SYNN REPORT  3 Responses »
Mar 302015
 

 

(In this 56th edition of THE SYNN REPORT, Andy Synn reviews the discography of Finland’s Callisto, whose latest album was released in January.)

Recommended for fans of: The Ocean, Cult of Luna, Thrice

There’s definitely a small chance, but a chance all the same, that Finnish Post-Rock/Post-Metal experimentalists Callisto might be a bit of a hard sell to our regular audience here at NCS.

Described on their Facebook page as “Metal / Experimental / Rock”, and by their own admission as “Progressive Noise Rock”, although the band clearly learnt much of their craft at the (metaphorical) knee of Isis and Cult of Luna, they quickly took a much different path than their predecessors, borrowing more from the Post-Hardcore and Post-Rock fields as their discography expanded, incorporating many more jazzy-influenced and experimental/ambient touches along the way.

It seems to me that this verve for experimentation – often divisive, yet never anything less than intriguing – contributed to the band missing the boat slightly during the mid-2000s Post-Metal explosion. Where others were (rightly) praised and lauded for their atmospheric expansion of the metallic landscape, Callisto were, in places at least, castigated for not being “Metal enough” as their interests swiftly diverged from those of their contemporaries.

Which is a shame, because I can honestly say that if you’re a fan of any of the bands mentioned above – or even the more atmospheric approach favoured by Junius and recent Sólstafir – then the Finns definitely deserve your time. And, although it does take a bit of effort and commitment to  get deep into some of their albums, I promise you that effort will be amply rewarded. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: DOWNFALL OF GAIA

 Interviews  4 Responses »
Mar 302015
 

 

(Andy Synn presents his interview with some of the members of Germany’s Downfall of Gaia.)

Aeon Unveils the Throne of Decay, the thunderous third album from Germany’s Downfall of Gaia, was, in my estimation, one of the finest slabs of Metal (of any style) produced last year. In fact I selected it as one of my top 10 Critical choices of 2014, describing it as a “slow-motion apocalypse” (though massive, jagged chunks of it are anything but slow) which “shifts seamlessly between styles… to make [it] a fascinatingly multi-faceted and endlessly rewarding musical experience.”

And I stand by those words. In fact I’ve only discovered more layers and depth to the album as the months have passed by.

So, as a huge (and relatively new) fan of the band, I was lucky enough to be able to grab guitarist/vocalist Dominik Goncalves dos Reis for a quick chat about life, love, and the nature of existence. Continue reading »

COLISEUM, BITTER END, HARM’S WAY, CONSUMMATION

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Mar 292015
 

 

So here’s how this post came about. I woke up this morning, caffeinated and nicotined myself, and started browsing Facebook to see if any world leaders were trying to get in touch. Within the first 20 seconds I spied a link to a new Coliseum video for a new Coliseum song. Of course, I had to see what that was about, because there’s on such thing as a bad Coliseum video. This new one gave me a surprise, but not an unpleasant one.

It turned out that Coliseum’s label (Deathwish Inc.) had queued up a playlist on YouTube without my realizing it, and so as soon as the Coliseum video finished, a song from a band named Bitter End started playing. And it hit the right chord in my addled brain. No sooner had it ended than a full-album stream launched, for a new release by Harm’s Way. The first couple of tracks beat me senseless, and so I just sat there, hunched over and black and blue, and let them finish what they’d started.

With blood running from my nose and ears, I thought I’d better stop before that Deathwish playlist served up something else because, y’know, I’d like to make it to lunchtime without rupturing my spleen. So I went back to Facebook and pretty quickly got a recommendation from KevinP about a metal band named Consummation. And since the first collection of music I’d heard wasn’t pure metal, I thought I’d give that a shot — and so here we are. Continue reading »

BELL WITCH: “FOUR PHANTOMS”

 Album Reviews  14 Responses »
Mar 292015
 

 

Four Phantoms is unspeakably sad, an extended lament so vast and panoramic that it seems more like an expression of bereavement for the loss of an entire race than for that of an individual soul. Yet it is also sublime, as if Bell Witch had swum endless fathoms down beneath an ocean of grief, down to the pristine alabaster core of human loss resting in the blackness, and surfaced again to erect it like a monument, gleaming with cold light under a half moon.

You’ll have to forgive me for these flights of verbal grandiosity (there will be more to come). The music is the kind that carries your imagination away. It induces introspectiveness. Its emotional impact is profound. In my case, it makes me search hard for words that are grand enough to suit the music; I’m sure I’ll fail, but it’s too late for you to stop me from trying.

The music is slow, spare, and seemingly simple. There are probably more notes and beats in a few measures of tech-death frenzy than in an entire song on Four Phantoms — and of those four songs, two are more than 10 minutes in length and two last more than 22 minutes. But what Bell Witch do with their seemingly simple tools is to build something exalted, yet with a weight that’s almost too much to bear. Continue reading »

VIDEOGRAPHY: APOPHYS, BARREN EARTH, DEATH GRIPS, FEARED, MUTTER

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Mar 282015
 

 

I’m back at the NCS compound in the vicinity of Seattle after a month away from home, and it sure as hell was good to sleep in my own bed again last night, with the lice who know me instead of the strange ones inhabiting my hotel room mattress. I’d say they’ll miss me, but I probably brought a few of them home with me as hitchhikers.

Well, enough about me and my parasites. I found some videos that came out yesterday that I thought were cool. Without further ado, here they are, presented in alphabetical order; there’s also an exciting tour announcement in here:

APOPHYS

A couple of weeks ago we had the pleasure of premiering a song named “Miscreants” by the Dutch death metal band Apophys (whose ranks include members of God Dethroned, Prostitute Disfigurement, Detonation, and Toxocara, among others). Their debut album Prime Incursion will be discharged by Metal Blade next month. And what I spied yesterday was the premiere on Gear Gods of a play-through video for another new song named “The Antidote”. According to the band,

“The song tells a story of humanity’s ultimate cure for itself, a final solution as people start to transform into beings that are focused on nothing other than consumption. This gives it a twist one could see relevant to our current society. Eventually the urge to consume backfires resulting in humanity consuming itself and thus, providing the answer to the final problem; us.” Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: ABBATH, ABOMINOR, MORNING MODE, NINKHARSAG, TAAKE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Mar 272015
 

 

(Responding to my constricted blog time, our Norwegian friend eiterorm has graciously compiled a round-up of new music and news for your entertainment and edification.)

The winds whispered in my ear that Islander has a lot of news to dig through (and a wife to persuade) before he can resume his passionate blog work. Here’s a guest entry to keep you slightly occupied in the meantime.

ABBATH

Because I decided to do this in alphabetical order, the news about Abbath is first out. Some of you may already know that the members of Immortal have been involved in a legal dispute over the band’s name. Due to musical disagreements, the long-running black metallers and weather forecasters have decided to go separate ways. Apparently, Abbath wanted to continue his career under the old monicker, something the rest of the band wouldn’t allow. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: SULPHUR AEON, MARUTA, AND A STUPENDOUS NEW HELLS HEADBANGERS COMPILATION

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Mar 272015
 

 

Before I hit the road for the drive back to Seattle today after almost a month away from home, I thought I’d throw a few new songs your way.

SULPHUR AEON

This German band’s last album cover (for Swallowed By the Ocean’s Tide) was one of the best ever. And now they’ve delivered another astonishingly great piece of art — or rather, Ola Larsson has delivered another one for them. Gaze upon its Lovecraftian loveliness above (and click the image to embiggen it).

The band’s new album is entitled Gateway To The Antisphere, and it’s due for release on April 3 by Van Records and Imperium Productions. Yesterday the fine deviants at CVLT Nation premiered the album’s first advance track, a titan named “Titans”. Continue reading »

DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT: “STELLAR”

 Album Reviews  5 Responses »
Mar 272015
 

 

(Andy Synn reviews the new album by Der Weg Einer Freiheit.)

From Dark Fortress and Secrets of The Moon, to Infestus and Agrypnie, via Ascension and Odem Arcarum, Germany seems to have produced an inordinately high number of my favourite Black Metal artists. And yet, despite all dealing firmly in the blackened arts, each band produces such a distinct strain of metallic darkness that, in many ways, this shared nationality seems to be the only common thread linking them in any sort of “scene”.

Well, to this amorphous grouping you can now add Bavarian sensations Der Weg Einer Freiheit, as their new album, Stellar, firmly and unequivocally establishes them as stars in the ascendant, and is already one of my top contenders for 2015’s inevitable End of Year list(s). Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SHINING — “FRAMTIDSUTSIKTER”

 Premieres  4 Responses »
Mar 272015
 


IX – Everyone, Everything, Everywhere, Ends is the name of the new album by Sweden’s Shining, which is due for release on April 21 by Season of Mist, and today we bring you the North American premiere of the album’s third track, “Framtidsutsikter”.

Shining’s creative mastermind Niklas Kvarforth made the following comment about the song:

“Following similar paths as several other ‘ballads’ of ours, ‘Framtidsutsikter’ (‘Future Prospects’), melds all of them together into an epic journey in a downward spiral. Coincidence and the pure joy of creating something horrible made this song into what it is. Relying on a pulsating vibe of hopelessness and despair, this song is for me personally almost unbearable to listen to. That will make things extremely interesting when performing it live, and it will probably be considered as one of the darker turns in our two decades long career. All hail misery!”

Continue reading »

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