THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER: “VLAD, SON OF THE DRAGON”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  31 Responses »
Jun 242015
 

 

Under normal circumstances, I would have included this song in a round-up of other new songs, but I decided to give this one stand-alone attention because the trajectory of The Black Dahlia Murder has been such an interesting one to watch. For an extreme metal band, they are tremendously popular, they have a lot of musical talent in their ranks, and they’ve got a larger-than-life, charismatic frontman. But in certain quarters of metal fandom, they’ve sort of been permanently stuck with a metalcore or deathcore label despite the evolution of their sound since 2005’s Miasma and Trevor Strnad’s self-professed “long, intimate love affair with death metal”.  And if you haven’t been paying attention, their sound clearly has evolved, and the evolution has clearly been purposeful.

I’m one of those people who wasn’t a big fan in the band’s early days, even as their visibility and popularity skyrocketed, but have been warming up to them as time has passed (for example, I enjoyed Everblack more than any of their previous releases). And so I’ve been curious about what their new album Abysmal would sound like, especially after seeing the fantastic cover art, which seems to scream “magnified brutality inside!”.

This morning one of the new songs popped up on YouTube, apparently a leak, and so it probably won’t be around for long (though today is the day previously appointed for release of the first single and the launch of album pre-orders). Its name is “Vlad, Son of the Dragon“. Continue reading »

CUT UP: “FORENSIC NIGHTMARES”

 Album Reviews  7 Responses »
Jun 232015
 

 

(TheMadIsraeli reviews the new album by Cut Up.)

There are a few death metal bands that just instantly turn me into a foaming-at-the-mouth violent super-brute — Hail of Bullets, Vader, and Bloodbath. Those bands are the epitome of no-bullshit consistently killer riffs, consistently savage speed, consistently relentless songwriting, and consistently skeleton-crushing grooves. Join Cut Up to that group.

Cut Up are a band who have a lot of pedigree due to the backgrounds of the members, and it shows. Forensic Nightmares is the most perfect death metal album I’ve heard this year, and it too turns me into a foaming-at-the-mouth violent super-brute at heart when I listen to it. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: MALIGN, BROKEN FLESH, NECHOCHWEN, CREEPING

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  24 Responses »
Jun 232015
 

 

Because I only write about metal that makes me enthusiastic, these round-ups of new music necessarily reflect my own idiosyncrasies. Fortunately, I suppose, I get enthusiastic about lots of different styles of metal (though I vehemently deny the accusation that I like everything I hear). And so it’s true again today that what you’re about to hear ranges far and wide across the metal landscape. Still, to ensure further diversity of viewpoints, you’ll also find a recommendation from Grant Skelton in addition to my own.

MALIGN

Here are some questions for you:  Do you enjoy writhing black metal extremity, with riffs that swarm with reptilian menace and hammer powerfully at the gates of doom? Does your pulse quicken at the sound of a drummer who rocks out as well as he blasts with mechanistic precision? Do you relish bestial growls that come straight for your throat with teeth bared? Do you search for black metal songs that get stuck in your head as well as generating an atmosphere of infernal menace, befitting the rising of a vengeful sun that emanates death? Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: PREMARONE

 Interviews  1 Response »
Jun 232015
 

 

(Comrade Aleks brings us this interview (with music) of the Italian doom band Premarone.)

Sometimes I start to think that I’m the best friend of Italian doom bands! Though sometimes I think the same about Russian, French, or Peruvian bands – depends on different periods. As some of our readers know – the Italian doom scene has deep roots in retro psychedelic rock and often has a lot of common elements with old-fashioned horror movies. It’s a kind of trademark, but it’s not a rule. I like to find exceptions to rules as well as confirmations when they are cool ones.

It’s hard to describe what Premarone is… They have a pretty original opinion on the questions about how doom music should sound. They have these doom riffs and some old-school arrangements with all their tastiness, and yet at the same time they practice a punk approach to it and don’t limit themselves in their experimentations. And Premarone released their first full-length Obscuris Vera Involvens in January 2015. It’s worth a listen, and that’s why we’ve done this interview with Alessandro Lugano (drums) and other seigniors of Premarone’s collective mind. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: AMIENSUS — “ONE IN SPIRIT” (AND A TOUR UPDATE)

 Premieres  13 Responses »
Jun 232015
 

 

In the wake of Amiensus‘ excellent 2013 debut album Restoration, their split that same year with Oak Pantheon entitled Gathering, and their cover of Forefather’s “Wolfhead’s Tree” last fall, the band’s new album Ascension has become one of our most highly anticipated of 2015.  In May we had the pleasure of bringing you the premiere of the album’s first single (“What Worlds Create”) and today we bring you a second one: “One In Spirit” — and an update about the band’s forthcoming tour.

“One In Spirit” displays the band’s talent for uniting sublime melodies with hammering riffs and rhythms that get the blood pumping fast and hard. The pairing of clean, soaring vocals and harsh growls symbolizes that joinder of beauty and the beast, as does the integration of an acoustic interlude side-by-side with a charging gallop of jolting riffs and driving percussion, and the contrast of a mesmerizing guitar solo gliding over heavy, booming bass notes. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: AIRLINES OF TERROR — “PEDOPHILIAC SKYJACKING”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
Jun 222015
 

 

If you’ve been keeping a count, then you know this is our third premiere of a song from Terror From the Air, the new album by Italy’s Airlines of Terror. In mid-May, we rolled out the first single from the new album, “U.F.O.=Tesla” (here) and then about two weeks ago we brought you the title track (here). Now, we deliver unto your vulnerable ears a video for the album’s third track, “Pedophiliac Skyjacking“.

And why, you may ask yourselves, have we been giving this band so much attention? Well, duh, because this album is an unholy onslaught of high-grade death metal romping and slaughtering! Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE (AND AN INTERVIEW): KHEMMIS — “ASH, CINDER, SMOKE”

 Interviews, Premieres  21 Responses »
Jun 222015
 

 

I don’t have a crystal ball, just some experience and a willingness to make guesses, but my prediction is that with a little word of mouth and the increasing exposure of their music, Denver-based Khemmis are going to blow up. They’re excellent songwriters, they’re accomplished musicians, they pour their souls into their music — and their music is righteous. They also have a tube-assisted wizard for a mascot.

In the wide-ranging interview that accompanies the song we’re about to premiere from their debut album, “Ash, Cinder, Smoke“, I unfairly asked the band if they could sum up their sound and style in a paragraph or less for people new to their music. They did it in six words — “Like a doom metal Iron Maiden.” Continue reading »

DAGOBA: “TALES OF THE BLACK DAWN”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Jun 222015
 

 

(In this post TheMadIsraeli returns to NCS with a review of the new album by Dagoba, which is being released today.)

I’ve ALWAYS liked Dagoba. I’ve always seen them as a metalcore band, and one of the best and few worth listening to who’ve put out material in the last ten years. Their brand of the standard metalcore formula mixed with symphonic bombast and industrial precision has always really stood out, always sticking to a hefty, bruising attack. Tales of the Black Dawn isn’t really a dramatic departure, but it’s definitely the darkest and heaviest record they’ve done yet. I’m really digging what’s going on here. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: MOHICANS, HORRIZON, ANIMUS MORTIS, BLACK SPACE RIDERS

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  7 Responses »
Jun 212015
 

 

After two weeks in Texas, I’ve had 36 hours in Seattle and am now about to head north to Vancouver, with two bodyguards to fend off the paparazzi, of course. We will be taking in a Bolt Thrower show this evening (I know I’m being an asshole, but it doesn’t happen often, so I think I get a break). Before hitting the road, I thought I’d throw a few things your way that lit me up in my listening yesterday. Variety is the spice of life, and there’s quite a bit of variety in this selection.

MOHICANS

I’ve forgotten how I stumbled across this next video. I saved a link to it before leaving Seattle two weeks ago (which was right when the video came out) and finally checked it out. It’s a single video named Room 69 that spans three songs by a San Francisco band named Mohicans (pictured above). To say the video is bizarre would be an understatement, but it’s damned entertaining, even if it’s loaded with WTF? moments. Continue reading »

FATHER SYNN’S METAL CONFESSIONAL (PART 7)

 Mosh Pit  41 Responses »
Jun 212015
 

 

(Father Synn is ready once again to listen to your filthy confessions after first making his own, and then to prescribe your penance. Unburden your diseased souls below.)

This week’s confessional has a special theme my brethren (and sistren). That of chances not taken and opportunities lost. Oh the sorrow. Oh the shame. Oh the goddamn fucking irritating annoyance of everyday life getting in the way!!!

Ahem.

As always, where I lead, thou shalt follow! Continue reading »

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