AN NCS PREMIERE: URSINNE — “DEVIL MAY CARE”

 Premieres  No Responses »
May 232017
 

 

During the first week of December last year our roaming eyes alighted upon a piece of very exciting news, i.e., that a death metal super-group had been formed under the name Ursinne, consisting of the uniquitous Jonny Pettersson (Wombbath, Ashcloud, Henry Kane, SYN:DROM) and Dave Ingram (Echelon, Down Among The Dead Men, ex-Hail Of Bullets/Bolt Thrower/Benediction). Now we have more details about this new project as well as the premiere of the first song from their debut album. The album’s name is Swim With the Leviathan and the song is “Devil May Care“.

The album will be released on August 20 of this year through Transcending Obscurity Records, and Ursinne’s line-up also now includes bassist Sonia Nusselder (Sepiroth, ex-Ecocide, ex-Shade of Hatred). On the album, Jonny Petterson performed all instruments (and he created the cover art as well) and Dave Ingram wrote the lyrics and gave his powerful voice to them., with a guest assist by Massacre’s Kam Lee on the track “Monsters In the Parasol”. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE: VINTERBRIS — “AD ABSURDUM” (AND A VIDEO BY KIM HOLM)

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
May 232017
 

 

We have a double-premiere for you in this post, both of which have stirred excitement here at the NCS metallic island. The first of these is the stream of a powerful new two-song EP by the Norwegian melodic black metal band Vinterbris, set for release on June 6th, the title of which is Ad Absurdum. And the second, which was inspired by the first, is a time-lapse video of the wonderful Norwegian artist Kim Holm that depicts his creation of the EP’s evocative wrap-around cover art.

In 2014 we wrote repeatedly about Vinterbris‘ superb second album Solace. What first drew our attention to the album even before hearing the music was the artwork that Kim Holm created for that album. In addition to a cover piece, Holm created separate illustrations for each song on the album (which we collected in one place here). Having been lured into the album by this artwork, we found the music to be a treasure as well. We even included a song from Solace on our list of 2014’s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs.

And now we will face the challenge of deciding which of these two new songs to pick for the 2017 edition of that list — because both songs surge with infectious energy, both of them immediately appealing at the first listen, and both of them persistently boiling in the listener’s mind long after they end. Continue reading »

THE UNHOLY TRINITY: ACHERONTAS / DØDSENGEL / HETROERTZEN

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
May 232017
 


Acherontas V. Priest

 

(In this post Andy Synn combines reviews of three superb 2017 albums by Acherontas (Greece), Dødsengel (Norway), and Hetroertzen (Chile/Sweden), and provides full streams of the music from all three as well.)

When people talk about the background and historical impact of Black Metal, the majority of the praise and prestige is given to the genre’s Norwegian progenitors… and rightly so, as this is, ultimately, where the first seeds were sown.

But focussing entirely on Norway doesn’t tell the whole story. After all, not only is Black Metal these days a worldwide phenomenon, it’s also one with global roots, and, as its influence has spread, different countries and different localities have all given birth to their own particular variants on the style.

The three bands featured here – one from Greece, one from Norway, and one from Chile/Sweden – all epitomise, in their own particular way, the eclectic, exotic, face of Black Metal today, so it only seemed fitting to me to group them all together under one black banner. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SUFFERING HOUR — “IN PASSING ASCENSION”

 Premieres  7 Responses »
May 222017
 

 

Suffering Hour’s In Passing Ascension is the kind of debut album that makes an immediate positive impact because it so convincingly displays the band’s sure-handed mastery of their own sound, and because it’s a soundscape that’s distinctive rather than a re-treading of long-familiar territory.

At a very high level, the album inventively fuses dissonant black metal and harrowing death metal to create an experience that’s both eerily atmospheric and punishingly heavy, full of fire-storming ferocity and skin-shivering otherworldliness — and it somehow manages to be quite memorable as well as persistently unsettling. It’s our pleasure to bring you a full stream of the album today, in advance of its release by Blood Harvest on May 26th. Continue reading »

INTERVIEW: CIRITH UNGOL

 Exceptions to the Rule, Interviews  1 Response »
May 222017
 

 

Originally formed circa 1972, the California heavy metal band Cirith Ungol released four albums between 1980 and 1991 before disbanding, and in the process amassed an ardent world-wide fan following. The band reunited in 2015 for the Frost and Fire festival, and are continuing to forge ahead with festival appearances — and writing new music as well.

Greek writer John Sleepwalker of Avopolis.gr returns to NCS with this interview of Tim Baker, Greg Lindstrom, Jimmy Barraza, and Rob Garven leading up to Cirith Ungol’s performance at the Up the Hammers Festival in Athens, Greece, on May 27, 2017.

******

First of all, what made a Cirith Ungol reunion possible after all these years? I think there was quite some interest from Greece too, for quite some time, but the band was very negative until now…

Rob: Jarvis Leatherby from Night Demon lives in our home town and he told me that when they traveled to Europe on tour they would see many fans wearing “Cirith Ungol” shirts, and patches, and many there knew of our band and music. I had sworn a blood oath that I would never play drums again, so I had always told him very politely that I was not interested. Everything changed at the “Frost & Fire” festival in 2015. Oliver Weinsheimer from the very famous and exclusive “Keep It True Festival” had come over for the show. Jarvis and Oliver asked to speak to the band alone. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: SCUORN — “SEPEITHOS”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
May 222017
 

 

When I first began listening to the music of Parthenope, the debut album by the Neapolitan metal band Scuorn that was released earlier this year, I wrote “It’s a truly eye-opening offering of epic symphonic black metal — majestic, bombastic, ferocious, theatrical, panoramic, richly textured, richly rewarding. I felt like giving a standing ovation at the end.” And the same can be said of the specific album track “Sepeithos“, which is the subject of a music video that we’re helping to premiere today.

The video was directed by Portuguese artist Gullherme Henriques Silva (Belphegor, Noctem, Nargaroth) and filmed by Mirco Condello (Fastforward Filming) during Scuorn’s latest show of the “Parthenope Italian Tour 2017” at Alchemica Music Club in Bologna, Italy. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: THY DARKENED SHADE, CHAOS INVOCATION, RIMRUNA, AGONIA BLACK VOMIT, DAEMONIAN, 1914

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHADES OF BLACK  2 Responses »
May 212017
 

 

I’m still with family in my old hometown of Austin, Texas, enjoying yet another mini-vacation. Like yesterday, I did have a little time this morning to do some listening, but not enough time to do much writing.

So, as was true of yesterday’s OVERFLOWING STREAMS post, I’m once again recommending the following song streams but including only some basic info about the music. The difference is that almost everything you’ll find below comes from the realms of black metal. Continue reading »

OVERFLOWING STREAMS (SATURDAY): VALLENFYRE, DECREPIT BIRTH, FATHER BEFOULED, IMPETUOUS RITUAL, DYING FETUS, WRECHE, THE FATHER OF SERPENTS, RED FANG

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  10 Responses »
May 202017
 


Vallenfyre

 

I’m in Austin, Texas, this weekend. I didn’t think I would have time to do any NCS stuff, but did find myself with some time this morning — though not enough time to do much writing. What I’ve done instead is just collect a bunch of new song streams and videos and some basic info about each one.

I might be able to do the same thing tomorrow, but probably not more than that. Hope you find some things to like in the following eclectic collection. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW (PART 3): BARBARIAN SWORDS (VÖN PAX)

 Interviews  No Responses »
May 192017
 

 

(Guest contributor Pablo Balbontín, editor of the Spanish webzine Subterráneo, brings us Part 3 of an  interview of Vön Pax, vocalist of the Spanish band Barbarian Swords, whose latest album Worms we premiered last November in advance of its release by Cimmerian Shade and Satanath Records. Part 1 is here; Part 2 is here.)

 

The genres you play, black and doom, don’t have much acceptance in Spain, and even in the underground are misunderstood. They don’t have much support, unlike thrash or death, but nevertheless Madrid, the dark (venue), which is more focused on doom and gothic metal, has been a complete success. So, seeing how those styles aren’t very valued, did you think that you wouldn’t succeed in your own country?

Von Päx: That’s a quite complex answer that I could be answering today. Let’s make clear that, in Spain, the most minority styles are black and then doom. That’s a battle that you have already lost. In this country they like blast-beats. If you don’t play fast they are not gonna like you. In addition they also don’t understand shrieking voices. If it isn’t guttural, you also have already lost support. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: DFB — “DOMINO”

 Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres  No Responses »
May 192017
 

 

L.A.-based Dylan Furr began making music as a solo artist, releasing two instrumental albums under his own name. For the third album (Juxtaposition) he added his own vocals, but then re-recorded it with new vocalist Elijah Arnold. Because the band is now no longer a completely solo effort, the project has taken on a new name — DFB.

On July 7, Famined Records will release a new DFB EP named Perspective, and what we have for you today is a lyric video for a song from Perspective named “Domino“. Continue reading »

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