AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: SKINNED — “WE ARE THE END”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Aug 242017
 

 

Skinned apparently have jet fuel coursing through their veins and the temperament of serial murderers in the throes of a rampant blood lust. Or at least that’s the conclusion you may draw from the musical killing spree we’re about to premiere, which comes wrapped in an explosive music video filmed by Paul McGuire of Cerebral Bore and Obscenery Films. The song is “We Are the End“, and it’s an electrifying teaser for the band’s new album, Shadow Syndicate.

Shadow Syndicate is this Colorado death metal band’s fifth album in a slaughtering career that dates back to the mid-’90s. It was recorded at Flatline Audio by Dave Otero (known for his work with the likes of Cattle Decapitation, Allegaeon, Khemmis, and Cephalic Carnage), and this premiere comes on the eve of a tour by Skinned across the central United States with the Texas band Prophecy.

We have some details about that tour, but first… some cautionary thoughts about “We Are the End“. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: BIESY — “CZERŃ NAS PROSI”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
Aug 242017
 

 

So far, two songs have premiered from the debut album by the Polish project Biesy, one of which we’re bringing you in this very post — and both of them demonstrate the emergence of a precocious new talent. The composer, lyricist, and principal instrumental performer in the band goes by the initials PR, and this album — Noc Lekkich Obyczajów — represents his first recorded work, though you wouldn’t guess that from the music. In this endeavor he was capably supported by two session members, vocalist Stawrogin (Odraza, Massemord) and drummer MP (Outre).

This new album will be released by Third Eye Temple on September 9, and the song we bring you today, accompanied by a haunting video, is named “Czerń Nas Prosi“. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD (PART 1): REX DEMONUS, ONIRISM, IMPLORE, KRIEG, ROTTING KINGDOM

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Aug 242017
 

 

I know I posted a round-up of new music just yesterday, but there are far more discoveries I’d like to share, and these go a bit deeper into the obscure realms of the underground than the ones I picked yesterday.

Lots of interesting stuff here, so much that I’ve divided this post into two parts. You may need to skip a meal and a bathroom break to get through both parts, but you’ll be glad you did, even if you begin gnawing your fingers and wetting yourselves. That ain’t fake news.

REX DEMONUS

The first band here is Rex Venomous, they are a multinational group, and the debut two-song EP you’re about to hear is Tenetur et Relicta. I looked up those two Latin words, and they translate as “bound and abandoned”. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: BELL WITCH, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, CLOAK, UNFATHOMABLE RUINATION, WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Aug 232017
 

 

The unwelcome intrusion of non-blog life has forced me to truncate my usual verbose reactions to the music I’ve selected in this mid-week round-up (cue the weeping and the gnashing of teeth), but I wanted to be prompt in spreading the word about the following items, all of which appeared either yesterday or this morning.

I picked these five new songs in part because they provide a quite varied array of what metal in the modern era has to offer.

BELL WITCH

The new Bell Witch album, Mirror Reaper, will be released by Profound Lore on October 20, with an album cover by Mariusz Lewandowski that we won’t soon forget. The album consists of one continuous 83-minute piece that unfolds as a single track. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: BLOODHUNTER — “EYES WIDE OPEN”

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Aug 232017
 

 

Bloodhunter are a melodic death metal band born in the Galician region of Spain in 2008. After a well-received demo in 2013 (The First Insurrection) and a profile-raising first album in 2014 (Bloodhunter), the band signed with the Spanish label Xtreem Music for the release of their second album, The End of Faith, which will arrive in October of this year.

In addition to founding guitarist Fenris, vocalist Diva Satánica, and bassist Éadrom, the new album features the talents of session drummer Marcelo Aires (Colosso, The Ominous Circle).  Today it’s our pleasure to bring you the premiere of a track from the new album named “Eyes Wide Open” — and it is indeed a big eye-opener. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (PART 2): KADAVERDISCIPLIN, KAPALA, KATLA, MIDNIGHT, ZEIT

 Exceptions to the Rule, SHADES OF BLACK  2 Responses »
Aug 232017
 

 

Here’s the second part of a column delayed from Sunday. I began it yesterday with a news item and then new music from four bands, and continue it today with new music and a new video from five more. From yesterday through today, these items are organized in alphabetical order by band name.

KADAVERDISCIPLIN

Kadaverdisciplin is a newish band of Swedish black metal slaughterers whose line-up includes a core trio of musicians from Västervik, Sweden (who include members of Zombified and Blodsrit) plus drummer extraordinaire Fredrik Widigs (Marduk, The Ugly). After a couple of digital singles, they have finished a debut album appropriately named Death Supremacy that will be released by Hammerheart Records on October 20. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: CORPSEHAMMER — “PULSO DE SATURNO”

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Aug 222017
 

 

The Swedish/Chilean band Corpsehammer (who are currently based in Dalarna, Sweden) released their first EP (Sacrilegio) earlier this year in a limited cassette tape run, and they’ve wasted no time following up on that. Their new EP, Posesión, will be discharged on September 1 by Morbid Skull Records.

Corpsehammer embrace a primitive but electrifying form of black/death savagery, drawing their influences from First Wave black metal and the ferocity of the late ’90s Latin American and Australian extreme metal scenes. There are six tracks on the new EP, and we’re bringing you the premiere of one of those, a song named “Pulse de Saturno“. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT — “FINISTERRE”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  5 Responses »
Aug 222017
 

 

(We have the privilege of helping to premiere a full stream of the new album by Der Weg Einer Freiheit in advance of its August 25 release by Season of Mist, which we introduce with a review of the album by Andy Synn.)

Raise your hand if you’re familiar with Der Weg Einer Freiheit’s phenomenal 2015 album, Stellar?

If your hand isn’t up in the air… shame on you. Shame.

Because you’ve been missing out on one of the most electrifying and emotionally invigorating acts (and albums) in the Metal scene today.

But don’t worry, because the band’s latest record (their fourth) is another opportunity to bask in the glory of their sublime blackened beauty. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (PART 1): ORATION, AUÐN, A PALE DECEMBER, ARCHGOAT, JUDASWIEGE

 SHADES OF BLACK  2 Responses »
Aug 222017
 

 

Greetings from western Wyoming. I’m two days late posting this column. I intentionally delayed it from Sunday to Monday because it seemed to make more sense to post this installment on the day of the total eclipse here in the U.S. — a time when actual shades of black would become manifest as the totality approached, and a moment when we could greet a black sun edged with the brilliance of the corona as night triumphed over day.

But I obviously didn’t get that done. After finishing yesterday’s three premieres, I ran out of time before the approach of the black sun beckoned.

I originally chose new music from seven bands for this week’s feature, but with the delay I’ve added two more new discoveries, in addition to one news item, which leads off this column. The new music is organized in alphabetical order by the name of the bands — and because of its length I’ve divided this into two parts. Because I’ll be making my way back to Seattle today, I might not get Part 2 posted until tomorrow.

ORATION

Yesterday Oration Records and Studio Emissary announced the first group of bands for next year’s edition of the Oration fest in Reykjavík, Iceland, which will take place on March 7-9, 2018, at the Gamla Bíó venue. As you can see from the flyer above, the bands announced yesterday are as follows: Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): EHNAHRE — “THE MARROW”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Aug 212017
 

 

(Austin Weber brings us his review of the new album by the Boston-based ensemble Ehnahre, as well as the premiere of a full stream of this fascinating new record.)

Ehnahre are one of the most interesting groups in metal, a lot of which is due to how much their music draws so liberally from outside of metal, specifically from classical music, chamber music, jazz, film score music, avant-garde, improv, and beyond, with all of this married to a love for all things experimental and harsh, wrapped inside a doom metal, death metal, and sometimes black metal influenced framework.

They’re a rare group, one whose sound is amorphous and ever-shifting from release to release and from song to song, delivered with a scope and love for long-form compositions that ends up making their music feel like it’s a world all its own. For those new to Ehnahre, both current and former members have spent time playing in fellow avant-garde metal experimentalists Kayo Dot  if you need further evidence that this project is worth paying attention to.

I’ve been following the project for many years now, and finally got around to covering them here at NCS starting in 2016 when we helped Ehnahre do an exclusive early stream of their sprawling double album, Douve. That was followed by a second 2016 release in the form of an EP called Nothing and Nothingness, that I also made sure to cover here at NCS. So I’m happy to continue supporting them here with an early stream of their new album, The Marrow. Continue reading »

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