Oct 302016
 

Rearview Mirror

 

More often that not, these Rearview Mirror posts look back at entire albums from metal’s past, but today the subject is just one song and a video that was made for it.

When I saw the video yesterday, the name Maceration rang a faint bell in my addled head, but the more I learned about the band after seeing the video, the more I thought I really didn’t know about them — because with their line-up, I think I would have remembered.

According to Metal-Archives, this Danish band’s first output was an “Official Livetape” that included eight tracks, including covers of songs by Obituary and Death. And then they recorded their only album, released in 1992 under the title A Serenade of Agony. By that point, the band’s line-up on the album included two members of the thrash band Invocator, Jakob Schultz (bass, guitars) and Jacob Hansen (drums, guitars, backing vocals), plus guitarist Lars Bangholt — and Dan Swanö as the session vocalist for the recording. Continue reading »

Oct 292016
 

bethlehem-cover-art

 

Hey there, happy Saturday to one and all. I kept a list over the last week of (mostly) new music I enjoyed. With the aid of an abacus, I counted how many songs, EPs, and albums were on that list. They added up to 39 (!). I moved some of them into the list of candidates for tomorrow’s Shades of Black post. I then picked the following nine for this playlist. There’s not a lot of rhyme or reason to the selections, though I did aim to provide wide genre variety. I hope you find something to like — I liked all this stuff a lot.

BETHLEHEM

This year the influential German band Bethlehem are celebrating their 25th anniversary by releasing a self-titled album (their eighth overall) on December 2 via Prophecy Productions. The album features a new vocalist, i.e., Onielar, from the German black metal band Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult, and a new Russian guitarist known as Karzov, who participated significantly in the songwriting.I think it’s worth including this quote from Marcus Losen, Bethlehem‘s drummer in the early years:

“Apparently somebody in this f*cking universe answered my longstanding wish at last. These 10 tracks have the spirit and the balls I missed in Bethlehem for more than 18 years!”

Continue reading »

Oct 292016
 

damnation-festival-2016-flyer

 

(Our fortunate friend Andy Synn will be attending Damnation Festival 2016 next week in Leeds, UK, and in this post shares a preview of how he’ll be spending his time. Oddly, there is no mention of beer.)

Not all of you might be aware of this, but it’s not uncommon for PR agents and festivals to only issue press passes on the contingency that the writer/blog/magazine makes sure to produce some preview coverage in advance of the show/event in question.

Now although I don’t often ask for accreditation myself (something about the whole process just doesn’t feel right to me), on those rare occasions when I do I have absolutely no problem agreeing to the sort of quid pro quo set out above. After all it makes sense for the organisers to try to get as much coverage as they can, and as long as no-one is trying specifically dictate or mandate exactly what I can (and cannot) write, I don’t see any issues.

After all, I wouldn’t want to go if I didn’t think the music would be worth it, would I?

So, without further ado, I hereby present you with a little preview of next week’s Damnation Festival, complete with music and random ramblings about each band I hope to get to see. Continue reading »

Oct 282016
 

krypts-remnants-of-expansion

 

(We welcome new NCS contributor Lewis Edwards, who wrote this review of the new album by the Finnish band Krypts, which is being released today by Dark Descent Records.)

Any death metal fan worth his salt needs no introduction to Krypts or why Remnants of Expansion has been one of the most anticipated death metal albums of the year, but for those of you less enlightened, Krypts are a four-piece old school death metal revivalist band, of sorts. Their 2013 debut full-length Unending Degradation saw a preference for slow/mid-tempo dirges in the vein of Rippikoulu, accompanied by the off-kilter riffing styles of Demilich and Adramelech, and it cemented Krypts’ place as one of the most exciting bands in modern death metal.

Remnants of Expansion pulls no punches from the very start; the reverb-laden sustained notes at the beginning of album opener “Arrow of Entropy” really set the tone for the rest of the record, and the sense of atmosphere is clearly felt as the song progresses from one sprawling doom-influenced riff to the next over the course of ten minutes. Simply put, it’s an absolutely monstrous way to open the album, and one which perhaps sees Krypts making a signal of intent. Continue reading »

Oct 282016
 

hornss-telepath

 

HORNSS come our way from San Francisco, brandishing a new album (their second) named Telepath, which is available now on vinyl from STB Records (though few copies are left) and on CD and digital via Ripple Music on November 18. What we have for you is a piece of music from the album named “Old Ghosts“, and it will kick your ass up between your shoulder blades.

Actually, your ass may wind up somewhere else; individual experience may vary. Mine? Up where I used to scratch my back.

I know — it’s commonplace to say that a song will kick your ass. But about half the time that’s an exaggeration — all you get is an annoying tickle or a dull nudge. But “Old Ghosts” is the real deal. Continue reading »

Oct 282016
 

mammoth

 

(This is the fourth part of a multi-part post prepared by Austin Weber putting the spotlight on recent releases, and today he focuses on music from these three bands: Mammoth, Nostril Caverns, and Vermine. To check out Part 1, go here; Part 2 is at this location; and Part 3 can be found here.)

 

MAMMOTH – DEVIATION

We’ll start today on a lighter note with the newly released instrumental progressive metal album from the Los Angeles-based group known as Mammoth. While the group has been active for several years now, and with several releases behind them already, I only recently became aware of them when their guitarist Wes pitched Deviation to me and I instantly fell in love. Similar to Mastodon, the band’s name fits so well, because their music really is a massive force similar in size and heft to a damn mammoth. Continue reading »

Oct 282016
 

hierophant-2016-photo-by-matteo-bosonetto

 

(In this October edition of THE SYNN REPORT, Andy reviews the discography of Italy’s Hierophant — including their brand new album Mass Grave.)

Recommended for fans of: Trap Them, Rotten Sound, Black Breath

There are times in your life when only the nastiest, gnarliest, most pissed-off and punishing form of auditory abuse will do. Which is the perfect time to crank up any one of the four albums by Italian iconoclasts Hierophant.

Each of the band’s releases is a short, sharp, 600-volt shock to the system, a nose-splintering headbutt from out of nowhere, a stiff, straight shot right to the kidneys, a swift and sudden punch to the throat that leaves you gasping and choking… what I’m trying to say is that these boys don’t play nice, they fight dirty.

Straddling the line between Hardcore and Grindcore, with a hefty helping of blackened venom and sludge and doomy nihilism to boot, the band’s sound is definitely one of the most singularly aggressive and gleefully ugly that I’ve had the (dis)pleasure to encounter in recent years.

And so, with a new album on the horizon, I felt it was high time that the rest of you were made to share my pain! Continue reading »

Oct 282016
 

soulemission-tales-of-inevitable-death

 

On October 31st, Samhain, Black Lion Records will release Tales of Inevitable Death, the debut album of the Dutch band Soulemission — and we have a full stream of the record for your ears in advance of its release.

With a line-up that includes former members of Prostitute Disfigurement and Cirith Gorgor, and with session drums on the album provided by Menthor (from such groups as Enthroned, Lvcifyre, and Nightbringer), the performers bring significant experience to the table, as well as interests in a broad range of extreme metal styles that have influenced their particular approach to black metal under the banner of Soulemission. In addition, the fourth track on the album (“Seas of Emptiness”) includes guest vocals by the notorious Niklas Kvarforth of Sweden’s Shining. Continue reading »

Oct 282016
 

death-fetishist-clandestine-sacrament

 

We’ve been following Death Fetishist since we premiered the band’s first single in December of last year (which became part of their debut EP Whorifice) and continuing through the release of a single-song EP named Lucifer Descending last February and our premiere of the first advance song from the debut album Clandestine Sacrament. And now, today, Debemur Morti Productions is officially releasing Clandestine Sacrament, and we have for you the first public streaming of the album.

For those who are just discovering Death Fetishist, the principal creator behind the project is the prolific Matron Thorn, who is also the main driving force in Ævangelist as well as the protagonist in a large number of solo projects, including Benighted In Sodom. He is the vocalist in Death Fetishist and performs all the instruments other than drums and percussion, which are handled by G. Nefarious (a member of Portland’s Panzergod, whose new EP we reviewed here yesterday, as well as Daemoniis Ad Noctum).

For this album Thorn also enlisted an array of notable international guests to help realize Death Fetishist’s musical vision, including guest vocalists Julia BlackD.G. from Iceland’s Misþyrming, and Doug Moore of NY’s Pyrrhon, with synth orchestration created by Jürgen Bartsch (Bethlehem) and Mories (Gnaw Their Tongues). Continue reading »

Oct 272016
 

netherbird-the-grander-voyage

 

Tomorrow (October 28), Black Lodge Records will release The Grander Voyage, the new fourth album by Sweden’s Netherbird, and on the eve of the release we are pleased to bring you a full stream of this diverse and dynamic new album — prefaced by this statement from frontman Nephente:

“I am very pleased to now finally release The Grander Voyage, our fourth full-length album. It is clearly a new chapter for Netherbird and I think it is easily the best album we have written and recorded. It will be evident that we are taking more risks and also showing more of the broad spectra of influences that we have as a band, though our base is and will always be the Scandinavian black and death metal underground. Continue reading »