NOW RELEASED: THE LONG-AWAITED SPLIT BY ABIGOR, NIGHTBRINGER, THY DARKENED SHADE, AND MORTUUS

 Metal News  8 Responses »
Feb 222017
 

 

In January of last year we quickly spread the word about a new song stream that had just appeared by the Greek black metal band Thy Darkened Shade. The song’s name was not disclosed, nor was any information provided about the release on which it might be included.

A couple of months later we learned about a teaser of new music that had been released by the Swedish band Mortuus, and by then word had circulated that Mortuus and Thy Darkened Shade would be participating in a four-way split along with Nightbringer (U.S.) and the Austrian black metal band Abigor.

Now, at long last, that split has been released. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VALGRIND — “EKPHORA’S DAY”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Feb 222017
 

 

It’s so very satisfying to come across a piece of metal extremity that succeeds on multiple levels, one that’s deeply (and ominously) atmospheric and yet also vigorously bends your neck to its will. And that’s what Valgrind have done with the song we’re about to premiere — “Ekphora’s Day“.

The song comes from this Italian death metal band’s new EP, Seal of Phobos, which will be released by Everlasting Spew Records on April 14th, and it includes guest growls by Jonny Pettersson of Wombbath, Ashcloud, and Henry Kane, as well as the first studio appearance of the band’s new guitarist, Umberto Poncina, who also engineered and mixed the EP . Continue reading »

ANCST: “FURNACE”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Feb 222017
 

 

(Andy Synn wrote this review of the new EP by Ancst from Berlin.)

Seeing as how I selected Moloch by Ancst as one of my Personal Top Ten Albums of 2016, it only makes sense that I be the one to cover their brand new EP, Furnace.

Of course, it’s not like the band have been idle in the intervening period between the release of Moloch (March 25th, 2016) and Furnace (February 19th, 2017), having also provided a track (“Arctic Waste”) for a four-way split last April, as well as delivering another extended instrumental EP in the form of October’s Stormcaster.

It’s simply that, as endlessly prolific as the band are, some of their releases stand out more than others.

And Furnace is one of them. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ORM — “APOTHEOSIS”

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Feb 222017
 

 

The painting by Italian artist Paolo Girardi that appears on the cover of the self-titled debut album by ORM provides meaningful clues about the music. The gigantic tentacles of a sea beast roil ocean waters beneath a threatening sky as trees seem to recoil in fear and a city high above the frothing waves is engulfed by fire. The scene is riveting, apocalyptic, and mythic. As you’ll soon discover, those same qualities come through vividly in the music of ORM as well.

This new album will be released digitally and on vinyl by the Danish label Indisciplinarian on March 24. It consists of five long tracks, and today we present one of them, which bears the name “Apotheosis“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ROZAMOV — “WIND SCORPION”

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Feb 212017
 

 

With two EPs and a split to their credit, the release of Rozamov’s debut album This Mortal Road is now fast approaching through the joint efforts of Battleground Records and Dullest Records. In advance of the March 3 release date, Revolver magazine has already premiered the title track, and now we have another one for you to stream, a soul-crusher named “Wind Scorpion”.

Rozamov have explained, “We wrote the album during the snowiest winter in Boston history, making life in the city just a constant draining struggle. It was a really intense time to live in New England, and the cold and isolation of that winter worked its way into the riffs and the lyrics, giving the record the feel of a long and intense journey.” There’s certainly no shortage of intensity in “Wind Scorpion”. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: REAPING ASMODEIA — “IMPURITIZE”

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Feb 212017
 

 

What you’re about to experience is a full stream of the new album Impuritize by Minneapolis-based Reaping Asmodeia, which will be released by Prosthetic Records on February 24.

As you approach the album it may help to imagine yourself being strapped into some futuristic road machine with a deranged yet precise artificial intelligence of its own, one that rockets ahead with all the turbochargers and afterburners wide open, veering and careening with abandon, leaving the road (and the surface of the earth) with no warning, plunging into ravines, crashing through stands of timber like they’re blades of grass, scattering combatants in an active war zone, jamming on the brakes one minute, flooring it the next, and shaking your skeletal structure to pieces at the same time as it scrambles your brain over high heat into a foaming froth. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ULSECT — “FALL TO DEPRAVITY”

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Feb 212017
 

 

With good reason, the new album by the Dutch band Dodecahedron (Kwintessens) has been drawing a lot of attention around metaldom leading up to its release next month by Season of Mist, but two of that band’s members are participants in another project that has a new album on the way, and early signs are that it will be worth just as much attention.

Ulsect is the name of this second group, and its line-up includes not only guitarist Joris Bonis and drummer Jasper Barendregt from Dodecahedron but also former Textures bass-player Dennis Aarts, guitarist Arno Frericks (ex-Encircled), and vocalist Dennis Maas. Their self-titled debut album, also being released by Season of Mist, is due to arrive on May 12, 2017, and we have an advance track named “Fall To Depravity” that should kindle your interest immediately. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: FIN, LAVA INVOCATOR, FJOERGYN, TERROR THRONE

 SHADES OF BLACK  No Responses »
Feb 212017
 

 

Sundays are the days usually reserved for SHADES OF BLACK posts, but by coincidence most of the new songs I discovered yesterday that I thought I’d include in a round-up were in a black vein. So I’ve collected those here, and I’ll defer the others to a SEEN AND HEARD post tomorrow.

I really like the music of all four of these bands and hope you will, too. The first three items below are advance tracks from forthcoming releases and the last one is a new demo the band wrote us about.

FIN

I’ve been following this Chicago band since May of 2013, when I scribbled some enthusiastic thoughts about their 2012 demo, Fated By Will and Iron. In February 2015 I loosed another flood of enthusiastic verbiage about their third album The Furrows of Tradition (along with a track premiere). And then last year I gushed about one of FIN’s songs for a split with the Austrian band Totale Vernichtung — which still hasn’t been released yet. Continue reading »

CATCHING UP ON 2016 -– BEDOWYN / KORONAL / MELDING PLAGUE

 Album Reviews  5 Responses »
Feb 202017
 


Bedowyn

(Andy Synn contributes three more reviews of releases from 2016, focusing on the music of Bedowyn (North Carolina), Koronal (Poland), and Melding Plague (Finland).)

Ok, last one. Deep breath. Big finish.

Here are the final three albums from 2016 which I have handpicked for your listening pleasure.

I hope you enjoy them, and I sincerely hope you’ve all discovered a gem or two over the last few weeks of these “catch-up” posts.

I’ll probably be following up on a few of my personal favourites over the next month or so, so we’re not quite done with 2016 just yet, but, for the most part, I’m now going to be switching my focus to albums and EPs from 2017, as I’ve built up quite a backlog over the last several weeks.

In the meantime, however, why not get stuck into the cavalcade of humongous riffs, ear-catching melodies, and badass grooves provided by this triumphant triptych of bands? Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: CRAVEN IDOL — “A RIPPING STRIKE”

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Feb 202017
 

 

Sometimes, song titles turn out to be examples of truth in advertising — no puffery, no exaggeration, just the truth and nothing but the truth. When London’s Craven Idol named the song we’re premiering “A Ripping Strike“, they weren’t fooling, and they’re not fooling around on the song either. It really is a ripping strike — a non-stop primal rush of electrification straight to the brain stem. And it proves to be damned infectious as well.

“A Ripping Strike” is the second track on Cravel Idol’s second album, The Shackles of Mammon, which will be released by Dark Descent Records on April 14. It follows the band’s eye-popping debut album Towards Eschaton, released in 2013. Continue reading »

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