December 2015 - Page 3 of 13 - NO CLEAN SINGING

OUR LIST OF 2015’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 4)

MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2015 8 Responses »

Dec 272015

We have arrived at the fourth installment of our 2015 list of the year’s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs. Like the first three, this one includes three songs. All three of these are types of death metal, but certainly not the same type. It’s also kind of hard even to slap a genre label on any of them individually, other than the broad one to which I just alluded.

If you’re new to this evolving list, go HERE to see the songs we’ve already named to it and to learn what we mean by “most infectious”.

ALKALOID

The debut album of this German “super-group” drew a lot of attention from us this year, including a premiere of the song I’m now adding to this list. culminating with my comrade Andy Synn naming The Malkouth Grimoire both to his list of the year’s “Great Albums” (here) and to his list of the year’s “Critical Top 10” (here) — anointing it “the No. 1, ‘best of the best’ album of 2015” and lauding its “sheer creativity, mind-blowing instrumental prowess, ball-busting heaviness, and esoteric, progressive melodies”. Continue reading »

THE REARVIEW MIRROR (VERDUNKELN)

THE REARVIEW MIRROR 5 Responses »

Dec 272015

I’ve started rolling out this year’s list of extreme metal’s “Most Infectious Songs” (there will be another installment later today). Back in 2012, I included in that year’s list a song by the German band who’s the subject of this Sunday’s backward look into metal’s past lives. I’ve already forgotten what put this band back into my head, since they’ve released nothing further since that 2012 album. I hope they will make a New Year’s resolution to give us more.

Verdunkeln took shape in the late ’90s. Its two core members Gnarl (vocals, guitar) and Ratatyske (drums) were also in another German black metal band named Graupel. Both bands are still listed as active by Metal Archives, though now only Gnarl is identified as the sole member of Verdunkeln. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: ALTARAGE, SELBST, ANCESTORS BLOOD, OCERCO, NABAATH

Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET 11 Responses »

Dec 262015

I had no Christmas rant this year. Truthfully, I said about all I have to say on the subject five years ago. And if I were even more honest with myself, I’d admit that I’m not quite as big a humbug about the day as that post might suggest. It has its good points, to the extent that it provides an occasion for people who actually do like or love one another to get together and enjoy themselves (and I hope that happened for you).

Now that the day has been interred for another year, it’s time to return to the unearthing of new underground metal. In this collection, and in another one I have planned for tomorrow, I’ve got music to recommend in a blackened vein — not all of it black metal, but all of it pleasingly dark nonetheless.

ALTARAGE

In July I reviewed a two-song demo by a Spanish death metal band named Altarage, concluding as follows: “This is primitive, poisonous, electrifying music from a band that’s now squarely on my radar screen for the future.” They’ve now made a new appearance on the screen. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2015’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: (PART 3)

MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2015 3 Responses »

Dec 262015

Welcome to Part 3 of our list of 2015’s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs. For the third day in a row, I’m adding three songs to the list, and I’ve again combined three selections because I think they sound good together.

For more info about the criteria I’ve used in picking these songs and to check out the preceding songs on the list, click this link.

TAU CROSS

By this time of the year I would guess that most fans of heavy music have at least heard the name Tau Cross, especially since their debut album has been popping up frequently on lots of year-end lists. But for those who may still be unaware, it includes Amebix vocalist/bassist Rob “The Baron” Miller, Voivod drummer Michel “Away” Langevin, Misery guitarist Jon Misery, and War//Plague guitarist Andy Lefton. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2015’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 2)

MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2015 3 Responses »

Dec 252015

Here’s the second installment in our “most infectious song” list. When you hear them, you might suspect that I hand-picked this particular trio to coincide with this particular day — and you would be right!

FIRESPAWN

I didn’t give this band enough attention this fall. Their debut album Shadow Realms detonated late in the year, and I’m still picking the shrapnel out of my head. It was a surprise in more ways than one — the quality was no surprise, given the line-up of the band, but the style of the music was a surprise (given the line-up of the band):

Alex Friberg (Necrophobic, Unleashed) (bass)
Victor Brandt (Dominion, Entombed A.D.) (guitars)
LG Petrov (Entombed A.D.) (vocals)
Fredrik Folkare (Unleashed, Necrophobic) (guitars)
Matte Modin (Skineater, Raised Fist, Defleshed) (drums) Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: APOTHESARY — “1976”

Premieres 4 Responses »

Dec 252015

Lots of people seem to be celebrating some kind of event today where you prove how much you love your friends and family by spending money you don’t have giving them things they didn’t ask for and probably won’t like. We’re trying to learn more about this event, but in the meantime, we have a gift of our own for you to unwrap. Actually, it’s not our gift to you, it’s a gift from San Francisco’s Apothesary. We know what the gift is, and not to spoil the surprise, but we’re pretty sure you’re going to like it.

It’s a gift of music, a song named “1976“. This isn’t the first time Apothesary have done this. Three years ago on this day they released an EP entitled They All Carry Ghosts. We wrote about that one, too (here). This gift is intended to tide people over until the band can bring more good tidings your way in the form of an album that’s in the works. Here’s more detail about this gift via the band’s lead guitarist Clayton Cagle: Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2015’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 1)

Exceptions to the Rule, MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2015 9 Responses »

Dec 242015

And so it begins, the last piece of our year-end LISTMANIA extravaganza: For the seventh year in a row, I present my list of the year’s “most infectious extreme metal songs”. As I’ve done in the past, my goal is to roll out this list gradually, with one installment per day (including weekends and holidays) until I’m finished, and usually with two songs in each installment. This is a goal, not a promise, because life is too damned unpredictable.

I will add that, as in most other years, I’m starting the rollout before actually finishing the list. Because it’s a work in progress, I don’t know how long it will be. My goal (not a promise) is to finish it before the end of January. To be clear, this is an unranked list; there’s no rhyme or reason to the order in which I’m announcing the songs.

To get a running start, I’m including three songs instead of two in each of the first five installments of the series, and these groupings aren’t random; they may not make sense to anyone but me, but I have my reasons for putting them together as I have.

Okay, let’s get started — and if you don’t know what I mean by “most infectious songs”, go HERE for an explanation. Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2015: WIL CIFER’S TOP 10 MAINSTREAM METAL ALBUMS

LISTMANIA 2015 3 Responses »

Dec 242015

(Wil Cifer has written a five-part year-end series that includes top albums in the genres of black metal, death metal, doom, and experimental/progressive metal, but the first part of the series is this one.)

First, before the weeping of the message board rises to a fever pitch, “Mainstream” here is not referring to bands selling out, playing arenas, or becoming a household name, though some of those things might apply to a few of the bands on this list. “Mainstream” in this case means too middle-of-the-road to belong on the Top Ten lists for more extreme forms of metal such as black metal, death metal, doom metal… you get the picture. They could appeal to your average metalhead who does not just listen to cassette pressings limited to only 200 copies. So in other words, in most cases these bands are not ones I would be able to cover over at my other home Cvlt Nation. The bulk of this is just fun, driving-to-the-liquor-store metal.

These are ranked thanks to my Last.fm in the order of which got the most rotation on my iPod. It’s fine for an album to be highly regarded for its artistic merit, but what is a great piece of sonic art really worth if it’s not inspiring me to come back to for repeat listens? Continue reading »

AUSTIN WEBER’S 2015 YEAR-END LIST EXTRAVAGANZA GO NUTS THERAPY TIME! (PART 2)

LISTMANIA 2015 14 Responses »

Dec 242015

(Here’s Part 2 of Austin Weber’s year-end round-up of music. Go HERE to see Part 1, which had a death metal focus. In this part, Austin delves into mathcore, prog, grind, and Kvlt Cold Kvts.)

If anyone reading this hasn’t seen my prior year-end lists here at NCS, I try to bring you an alternative list of some of the best music of the year. Which means I won’t post a lot of releases that you see on other lists. Not because I didn’t dig a lot of them, but because you already know about them and will be seeing a lot of the same names being repeated elsewhere.

In addition to this massive year-end list, I also did one at Metal Injection, but my objective for this one is to focus on lesser-known groups and show you more jams from the year that not enough people heard.

Quotes that appear below the following records were pulled from my reviews, multi-band articles, and song premieres, and more than 20 in this two-part feature are from my posts over at Metal-Injection for releases that I didn’t cover here at NCS. But you’ll also find some new mini write-ups for releases I didn’t get a chance to cover anywhere this year, but loved as well. This is an unordered list as far as “ranking” goes. Hope you find some nu jamz! Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: HALTER (ALEXEY PYSHKIN)

Interviews 2 Responses »

Dec 242015

(Comrade Aleks brings us this interview with Alexey Pyshkin, vocalist of the Russian band Halter.)

In September 2015, Moscow Funeral League released For the Abandoned, the second album of Halter, a Russian death doom band from the city of Yaroslavl. The first Halter full-length Omnipresence of Rat Race did not exactly pass completely unnoticed, but this release for sure should gain much more attention: yours, and mine, my fair readers. Anyway, the new material was recorded in two years since the first album, and the new songs included in this release have shown a considerable growth of the band — you check it and you’ll get it.

What is For The Abandoned good for? Why should one pay attention to this record? We will address these questions to Alexey Pyshkin, the voice of Halter. Continue reading »

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