July 2015 - Page 4 of 13 - NO CLEAN SINGING

FALLEN — AND A SOLITUDE PRODUCTIONS COMPILATION

Jul 242015

(Grant Skelton contributed the following prose, and I thank him for it.)

In a year that has already produced some astounding funeral doom (Shape Of Despair, Bell Witch, Foehammer) and a whole lot more around the corner (Ahab, Skepticism, My Dying Bride), I thought it fitting to bring attention to another entry in the sepulchral annals of funeral doom.

Fallen were a Norwegian side project of Christian Loos and Anders Eek (both members of Funeral) and Kjetil Ottersen (also of atmospheric doom trio Omit). Their first and only album A Tragedy’s Bitter End was released in 2004. The album title was perhaps an ominous foreshadowing of the band’s future, as Christian Loos committed suicide in 2006. That fact drives a weighted hook through the soul of the music, adding a downcast despondence to the listening experience.

The vocals, while clean, are sullen and low. They are dour and dreary, structurally resembling Gregorian chant at times. The journey is comparable to scaling a hill during a thunderstorm while dragging a tombstone shackled to each ankle. Continue reading »

HÆTHEN: “SHAPED BY AEOLIAN WINDS”

Album Reviews 6 Responses »

Jul 242015

(Andy Synn reviews the debut album by Philadelphia’s Hæthen.)

How strange… following on from the 60th edition of The Synn Report, which went up earlier this week [here], it seems like I’m sticking around in Philadelphia for another band – Black Metal misanthropists Hæthen, whose debut album Shaped by Aeolian Winds, was actually released wayyyyyy back in February of this year – however, to my endless shame, I’m only just discovering it now.

Still, what we have here, no more and no less, is a striking slab of evocative, highly atmospheric Black Metal – carefully crafted and refined by people who clearly know the genre like the back of their hands – and, while it may not be the most original or earth-shattering album ever produced, it remains a fine collection of deftly written, deeply impressive songs in its own right. Continue reading »

HELP A BROTHER OUT?

Uncategorized 30 Responses »

Jul 242015

a pleasant slumber

Hey there, happy Friday. I got back home late last night after a short out-of-town trip for my fucking day job. I didn’t write anything to post this morning before crawling into bed and sleeping like a dead man. By coincidence, none of our other regular writers sent me anything last night or this morning. So, basically, I got nothing right now.

I do have a very nice album premiere planned for today, but I haven’t finished writing it yet. In the meantime, rather than just have the site sit here with nothing on it except yesterday’s posts (as good as those are), I thought I’d try something out for a change — basically, the idea is to see if you’ll do my work for me.

One thing I haven’t managed to do this week is put together a round-up of new songs and videos. So, what I’d like to propose is this: Continue reading »

DEFECT DESIGNER: “AGEING ACCELERATOR”

Album Reviews, Reviews 6 Responses »

Jul 232015

(Here’s Austin Weber’s review of the new Defect Designer album.)

Too often, we forget about killer releases after a song premiere we enjoy has passed out of memory before the record itself drops. Granted, this is not always true for everyone, or for everything that is released, but it is certainly something I have noticed. Which is why we are here today to talk about Defect Designer in spite of writing about them recently here at NCS.

Some of you may recall the premiere we did just a few weeks ago for a song (“The Terrible”) from Ageing Accelerator just a few weeks ago. Nevertheless, as a refresher, here is a written reminder to check out this fantastic new Defect Designer record now that it has been released. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: OGOTAY — “ENTERING THE VOID”

Premieres 3 Responses »

Jul 232015

The Polish death metal band Ogotay have completed a new album (their second) named Dead God’s Prophet that will be released by their new label Selfmadegod Records on August 1. We were given the opportunity to premiere a new song from the album of our own choosing. After listening to the album and liking it a lot, I agreed.

But picking the song turned out to be more difficult, because there is a lot of good stuff to choose from on this release, and the songs certainly aren’t all alike. The one I eventually chose was “Entering the Void”, which is the album’s fourth track. Continue reading »

TOURISM (AND NEW MUSIC): KATAKLYSM, BELPHEGOR, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, CARNIFEX

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 4 Responses »

Jul 232015

Just a few quick notes in here about three new North American tours that were announced within the last week. Two of the headlining bands — Kataklysm and The Black Dahlia Murder — also premiered new songs yesterday, so I’ve included a stream of them below as well.

KATAKLYSM / BELPHEGOR

This is an interesting mix of co-headliners — Canada’s Kataklysm (whose new album Of Ghosts and Gods was given an initial assessment by Andy Synn for us here) and Austria’s Belphegor (whose most recent album was 2014’s Conjuring the Dead). The complete schedule is below, but first, a video… Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: COFFINCRAFT — “IMPIOUS SPAWN”

Premieres 4 Responses »

Jul 222015

Alexander L. Brown’s cover art for the debut album by Finland’s Coffincraft will ensure that it gets noticed. But although eye-catching album art doesn’t always go hand-in-hand with ear-pleasing music, it certainly does in the case of In Eerie Slumber. And by “ear-pleasing”, I mean “skull-cleaving savagery”. If you doubt my word, dive into the song we’re about to premiere from the album — “Impious Spawn“.

In Eerie Slumber follows two previous EPs released by the band, 2010’s Bestial Conclusions and Shockwave of Truth from 2012. As before, Coffincraft channel the undead spirit of original Swedish and Finnish death metal from the early-to-mid ’90s, with a tip of the hat to bands like Bolt Thrower and Carcass as well. But the new album reflects an even more powerful mastery of the sound and style, and an approach to song-writing and execution that makes it sound vibrantly alive — and lethally evil. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: IN DREAD RESPONSE — “HEAVENSHORE”

Premieres 10 Responses »

Jul 222015

(We premiere a full stream of the new album by New Zealand’s In Dread Response, with the following introduction by TheMadIsraeli.)

Melodic death metal and metalcore have been intersecting with each other for quite a while now. I’ve been a proponent of the idea that this has mostly produced mediocre music that should be of little interest, often resulting in little more than watered-down melodic death metal with clean pop vocals, riffing that lacks any technical edge, and a boring breakdown here and there. But In Dread Response have always consistently done it right, taking exactly the best aspects of both styles. The technical edge, ferocity, and speed of melodic death metal are in play, combined with metalcore’s emotive sense of melody, energy, and a vocal style that comes off as more emotionally charged. Think of early Killswitch Engage with Jesse Leech, except IDR are definitely about the more ferocious aspects of heavy music. And there are no breakdowns or clean vocals to be found here. Zero.

Heavenshore is the band’s third album, and their best. I’ve not heard metal of the melodic sort this emotionally charged or this vicious in a long time. It’s also one of the few instances in which I truly feel an album is “perfect”, in the sense that there is no filler on it. Every song is distinct and equally great, and I never have an urge to skip to the next track at any point. This is as repeat-listenable as Alive Or Just Breathing or Slaughter Of The Soul, and I’ve been treating it as an album of like prestige since the IDR guys sent me the promo of it. Continue reading »

AUSTIN WEBER’S BEST OF 2015 SO FAR: PRIME CUTS FROM THE UNDERGROUND OF THE UNDERGROUND (PART 4)

Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 6 Responses »

Jul 222015

(Here’s the final installment in a multi-part post that began last week, in which Austin Weber brings us his recommendations for some of the best albums released during the first half of the year. Part 1 is at this location, Part 2 is here, and Part 3 is here.)

Acrania

I know what some of you are thinking, that this is the somewhat well-known slam band from the UK who are also named Acrania. Well, it’s not. In fact, the UK Acrania broke up recently, and the one we are here to discuss today is based in Mexico City, having been a band far longer than the other Acrania anyways.

I first became acquainted with Fearless due to Eliran Kantor’s painted cover, which the artist shared on Facebook long before the album’s release. Yet, shamefully. I only got a chance to check out the record very recently. I’m really glad I did, because Acrania have a very interesting sound and take on mixing the old with the outlandish in pursuit of something new. Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT, PART 60: BURDEN

Album Reviews, THE SYNN REPORT 7 Responses »

Jul 222015

(Andy Synn delivers the 60th edition of The Synn Report, reviewing the discography to date of Philadelphia’s Burden.)

Recommended for fans of: Ahab, October Tide, Celtic Frost

This was not the column I was supposed to be writing this month. Only an hour ago I was discussing with my NCS compatriots which of two particular bands to choose to focus on with this month’s edition of The Synn Report.

Yet the best-laid plans of mice and men so often go astray… particularly when you stumble upon an artist so good you just have to write about them. And that’s exactly what happened in this case.

Gloomy progressive Doomsayers Burden hail from the darkest depths of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, to be exact) and have, so far, produced two full-length albums and two stand-alone singles of dense, introverted Doom and groaning, cavernous Death Metal, each time employing subtle progressive touches and splashes of captivating melody to maintain a sense of bleak vitality and cleverly shift the dynamic of their lengthy compositions.

Granted, this sort of music often takes a real investment of patience and time from the listener, but when it’s this good it’s definitely worth it. In fact their most recent album, last year’s Without, is probably one of the most under-appreciated and under-rated gems I’ve heard in a long while! Continue reading »

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