OBLIVION: “THE PATH TOWARDS…”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Nov 272017
 

 

(TheMadIsraeli reviews the new album by Oblivion, which is out now via Unique Leader Records.)

I was a huge fan and advocate for Oblivion when they first appeared in the scene all the way back at the release of their debut three-song EP. I enthusiastically reviewed their 2013 debut album Called To Rise, amazed by their dedication to old school, riff-driven technical death metal that called to mind Suffocation, Incantation, and Pestilence. It was one of the best death metal records of its year, and as a result I’ve been very excited to see what the band would do next.

The Path Towards… is the first album in a two-album series about the inevitable AI takeover of the human race. Generally a tired concept that’s been done to death, Oblivion pull it off quite convincingly, conveying the horror and sense of existential dread of being phased out along with the accompanying unbridled and anguished sense of rage you’d expect from such an event. Continue reading »

ENSLAVED – LONDON – NOV 24, 2017

 Concert Reviews  1 Response »
Nov 272017
 

 

(Andy Synn continues to make his way down to London to witness shows that make his States-side friends violently jealous, but probably isn’t driven to do so solely, or even at all, by the prospect of that effect. Probably.  We have here his words and videos from the latest excursion.)

So last Friday, for the second time in as many weeks, I found myself back down in London at the Islington Assembly Hall to catch another of Norway’s finest musical exports, the nine-worlds-renowned Enslaved.

Now originally I had planned on seeing the Norse quintet in Nottingham the weekend before as part of their tour supporting Opeth but, due to still feeling like crap, I ended up not being able to make that show, resulting in me making the five-hour round-trip down South instead.

But, truth be told, given the option, I’d much rather see an Enslaved headlining show than an Opeth one, as the latter tend to be a little hit-or-miss live in my opinion, whereas I’ve never not had a fantastic time at seeing the former, so maybe things worked out for the best in the end? Continue reading »

AN NCS SPLIT PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): BARSHASKETH AND OUTRE — “SEIN ZEIT”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Nov 262017
 

 

At this site we don’t often publicize mere announcements of new releases without accompanying music, but a few weeks ago I did because the announcement got me so excited that I couldn’t resist. The subject was a forthcoming split by Barshasketh (formerly based in New Zealand, now located in Edinburgh, Scotland) and the Polish band Outre. Entitled Sein / Zeit, the split is scheduled for released on November 27th by Third Eye Temple and Blut & Eisen Productions.

Both of these bands have released some stunningly good music in the past, and that alone would have been reason enough to cause excitement about this split, but the conceptual focus of the music described in the announcement made the prospect even more intriguing. And now we’ve heard the split — and today you may do the same — and it is every bit as exciting as we thought it might be. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: TRIBULATION, DDENT, TRESPASSER, CAVEMAN CULT, LEFT ALONE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Nov 252017
 

 

It seems that the four-day Thanksgiving holiday here in the U.S. has made mincemeat out of our site’s traffic, and while we don’t depend on traffic for money, it’s not much fun to put a lot of work into a post and then realize that few people will see it. It’s a test of the severity of my own blog compulsion. As you can tell, my compulsion passed the test with flying colors.

These are a few recent things I enjoyed last night and this morning, and hope you will enjoy too.

TRIBULATION

Well, this is sort of recent. I somehow missed it when it came out 8 days ago. Not sure how that happened, but anyway, I found it last night. It’s a video for a new song named “The Lament” off the next album by Sweden’s Tribulation. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (FRIDAY): TAAKE, PORTAL, BLACK ALTAR, MOURNING DAWN

 SHADES OF BLACK  3 Responses »
Nov 242017
 

 

I saw a meme this morning on Facebook, which read as follows:  “Black Friday: Because only in America, people trample others for sales exactly one day after being thankful for what they already have.” And yes, I suppose it’s so. For some of us, however, the last thing on our minds on this day, a thing to be avoided like the second coming of the black plague, is an excursion to retail outlets of any kind. The stronger impulse is to become even more hermit-like, to hunker down in our bunkers and put the thought of voraciously consuming crowds as far away as possible.

On the other hand, getting trampled is not in itself a bad thing, and can indeed be a very welcome experience, as long as the trampling is inflicted through the earholes, and the resulting visions of turmoil are spawned by the mind rather than observed through the eyes. And so here’s a rare Friday edition of SHADES OF BLACK, probably to be followed by another one in its usual place on Sunday.

TAAKE

Unless I missed something, the release of Taake’s new album, Kong Vinter, was preceded by the release of only one single (“Inntrenger”), and what a fine one it was. But the entire album is now publicly available, having been released yesterday by Dark Essence Records, in physical form and as a Bandcamp download. We failed to prepare a review in advance, and I’m afraid that what I’ve written below may not merit such a word, but I do want to share my enthusiasm, along with the music stream. Continue reading »

THE BEST OF BRITISH, 2017 (PART 9): CALLIGRAM / VEHEMENT / WATCHCRIES

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Nov 242017
 

 

(Andy Synn delivers another installment in a series devoted to worthy releases by bands from his homeland.)

Where does the time go? It seems like only yesterday I was working on my eighth “Best of British 2017” post, yet here we are again with number nine and 2017 is almost over!

But while there’s still time left, and still breath in my lungs, I’m going to keep doing my best to bring you the very best metallic morsels which have sprung from these green and pleasant lands. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A DAY OF THANKS-GIVING: AMENRA, DRAWN AND QUARTERED, SARINVOMIT, ATARAKTIKA

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Nov 232017
 

 

If the analytical stats about the composition of our visitors are correct, about half of you will be observing Thanksgiving Day while for everyone else it will be just another day. It’s sort of just another day here at NCS — as you can tell, we’re still posting about metal — but it’s also Thanksgiving Day here in Seattle. And inevitably, I’m feeling thankful.

To give thanks, you need someone or something to thank, don’t you? In the tradition of this holiday, the idea is to express gratitude to some higher power, but if that seems like a fantasy (as it does to me), you become mindful of the thanks you owe to other people instead. Since our eighth birthday was only a few days ago, I’ve already thanked all the people (including you) who have contributed to the perplexing longevity of NCS. Today, I’m feeling especially thankful to the bands who help make life pleasurable, even during the dark days when it’s a struggle to find anything else that makes you feel thankful.

And so, voila, here’s a random selection of recent news and new music for which I’m grateful, with few words (because I’m headed off soon for a Thanksgiving get-together with family and friends).

AMENRA

I was late in getting around to checking out Amenra’s new video for the song “A Solitary Reign” off their new album Mass VI, which is out now via Neurot Recordings (and was reviewed here by Wil Cifer). It is a captivating video, made by Tine Guns, the mother of Amenra guitar player Mathieu Vandekerckhove’s son, Wolf. The song is completely captivating as well, perhaps the high point of Mass VI. The music was described in this way by the band’s Colin H. Van Eeckhout: Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: JARUN — “MALOWANY OGIEŃ”

 Premieres  4 Responses »
Nov 232017
 

 

“May you live in interesting times” is an old English expression, usually attributed (probably incorrectly) to a Chinese origin. Rather than a blessing, it is a curse, because as we all know too well, surprises in life can be as often terrible as joyful. In that context, there is indeed something to be said for evenness and tranquillity; we might be willing to do without the unexpected reappearance of an old friend if we could also be spared the appearance of a spot on the lung. But in the context of music, and metal in particular, I suspect most of us would rather have 100 unpleasant surprises in return for one really good one, instead of an un-ending parade (even a comfortable one) of what we’ve heard many times before.

And this new song by the Polish band Jarun is a very welcome surprise. In fact, it’s full of surprises, and perhaps the biggest one is that all the unexpected occurrences within the song unexpectedly work, and work so well that it becomes a piece that’s very hard to forget. The name is “Malowany ogień“, and it’s the closing track on the band’s forthcoming third album, Sporysz, which will be released on December 22 by Arachnophobia Records. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ENOID — “ECNARFFUOS”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Nov 222017
 

 

Few would deny that we are in the midst of a resurgence and a branching of black metal that rivals, if not eclipses, the torrent of the second wave in its flourishing abundance and creative fertility. There are a lot of forks in this great, gnarled tree of music, and some of the off-shoots bear little resemblance to the original root stock, much to the disgust of purists in certain quarters. Other thorned flowerings have hewed more closely to the vitriolic intensity and scarifying aggression of the progenitors. The Swiss band Enoid is in that camp.

The project of a sole creator who calls himself Bornyhake, Enoid has been a prolific source of musical hate and misanthropy, releasing seven albums since 2006 as well as a trio of shorter works. The first two of those albums, Livssyklus and Dodssyklus, were released in 2006 and 2007 by Rotten Vomit Records and NMB Records, respectively. They have become hard to find, but on December 16th they will be re-released in a re-mastered compilation recording by GrimmDistribution (Belarus) and Final Gate Records (Germany).

To help spread the word, we’re premiering a remastered track called “Ecnarffuos“, which originally appeared on the Dodssyklus album. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: GARHELENTH — “SELF-HUMILIATION”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Nov 222017
 

 

We are told that the name chosen by the two-man band Garhelenth (originally from Iran, then Georgia, and now based in Armenia) will not be found in any dictionary, in any language. It is instead a creation that has symbolic significance in the band’s occult philosophies, and it is black metal that forms the musical channel of their communication.

Gerhelenth’s new album (their second) is About Pessimistic Elements & Rebirth Of Tragedy. It will be released on December 14th by Satanath Records (Russia) and The Eastern Front (Israel), and from that album we bring you a stream of a track whose name is as gloomy as the album’s title: “Self-Humiliation“. Continue reading »

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