AN NCS PREMIERE: SORDIDE — “LA PEUR DU NOIR”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Jan 232019
 

 

We have been following the progress of the French black metal band Sordide since discovering and writing about the first preview tracks from their second album, 2016’s Fuir la lumière (escape the light), that appeared in advance of the album’s release. That led to the opportunity for us to host the debut of a complete music stream for that exhilarating record, which became one of this writer’s favorite releases of 2016.

Sordide have now completed work on a third album, the name of which is Hier déjà mort, which will be released on February 15th by Throatruiner Records, WV Sorcerer Productions, and La Harelle. Not long after that, Sordide will embark upon a European tour with the Dutch black metal band Turia, whom we’ve also praised repeatedly at our site. Today we provide further details about all this news, as well as a chance to listen to the opening track from the new album (following a prelude) entitled “La peur du noir“. Continue reading »

FLOTSAM AND JETSAM: “THE END OF CHAOS”

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule  1 Response »
Jan 232019
 

 

(Wil Cifer reviews the 14th album by Arizona’s Flotsam and Jetsam, which was released on January 18 by AFM Records.)

When it comes to bands I grew up on there is a tightrope balancing act they must brave. One part chasing the dragon to recapture the sound I fell in love with, versus becoming a tired parade of nostalgia.

Even though Flotsam and Jetsam‘s new album sounds like they are picking up where they left off on 1988’s No Place For Disgrac., the production gives this a heavy enough density for jaded eardrums that have grown calloused by higher tolerance for heavy over the years.

As a teen I liked When the Storm Comes Down (1990), but something about the album was a bit off. Looking back, it’s more evident that the production was steering their sound in more of an And Justice For All… direction. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2018’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 11): HORIZON ABLAZE, HOTH, HOUSE OF ATREUS

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2018  3 Responses »
Jan 222019
 

 

I got kind of carried away with my own verbiage in the three premieres I wrote earlier today (I know, shocking isn’t it?), and that plus a visit to the dentist has caused the latest installment of this ongoing list to appear later in the day than I would have preferred. But I’m determined to keep this going as a daily habit until I force myself to stop.

As for today’s installment, you might guess that I organized my collection of song candidates for the list in alphabetical order — and you would be right. I do skip around in making choices, but today I’m solidly embedded in the H’s.

HORIZON ABLAZE

We gave quite a lot of attention to the 2018 album by the Norwegian band Horizon Ablaze, The Weight of a Thousand Suns (which was released last February) — most of it penned by Andy Synn. He introduced our premiere of a song from the album, reviewed the whole record, and then put it on both his list of 2018’s Great Albums and his Personal Top 10 list. NCS scribe TheMadIsraeli also put it on his own year-end list posted at our site, and even I got into the act by covering one of the advance album tracks in an edition of SHADES OF BLACK. So, it’s fair to say that we’re VERY HIGH on this record. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: MALEVOLENT CREATION — “RELEASE THE SOUL”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Jan 222019
 

 

The opportunity to premiere a video for a new song by Malevolent Creation from their 13th album (fittingly named The 13th Beast) seems like the kind of halcyon time that should inspire a dense retrospective, a positioning of the music in the context of more than 30 years of heavy metal creativity by this band. Unfortunately, for me, the task is too daunting. Even attempting to provide an adequate musical biography by way of introduction is a bewildering challenge. So I’m just going to pretend that you don’t know much about this group beyond the song you’re about to hear.

And, having reflected on this approach, I don’t think it’s unfair. We can pay honor to the decades-long achievements of a band such as this one, but if we’re truly honest with ourselves, past glories do not make new music any better than it would be if the band’s name were blacked out. Nostalgia, and respect borne of a group’s ground-breaking contributions, really should not influence how we hear a new song or album. If we are not sheep, then every new honor we might bestow must be earned. Continue reading »

AN NCS DOUBLE PREMIERE: PÁNICO AL MIEDO AND SOL DE SANGRE (TWO TRACKS FROM “LA SENDA DE LA MUERTE”)

 Premieres  6 Responses »
Jan 222019
 

 

It isn’t uncommon for current bands to honor the giants of the past on whose shoulders they stand, and whose music provided both inspiration to their own creativity and vicious joy to their own listening. But the homage that Pánico Al Miedo (Spain) and Sol De Sangre (Colombia) have paid to their own death metal heroes in a new split is still something very special.

La Senda De La Muerte is the name of this new split. It will be released on CD by Germany’s War Anthem Records on January 25th and in a cassette tape edition by Scotland-based Camo Pants Records on March 1st. It includes Sol De Sangre‘s covers of songs by Entombed and Unleashed, and Pánico Al Miedo‘s covers of songs by Pestilence and Death. And while both of these excellent bands have taken significant steps to link these recordings to the era that gave them birth, they’ve also put their own stamp on the music — perhaps most significantly, they’ve reinterpreted the lyrics in Spanish, giving the songs a new kind of vibe and atmosphere. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): NEBULA ORIONIS — “STARTHRONE”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  1 Response »
Jan 222019
 

 

Today is the day when Casus Belli Musica and Beverina release Starthrone, the new album by the Russian solo music project Nebula Orionis, and to help spread the word we’re featuring a full stream of the recording.

The album is recommended for fans of Midnight Odyssey, Mesarthim, and Ison. It is dedicated to explorers of the universe, and in its own sounds it casts the listener’s mind out into the far reaches of the cosmos, guiding us on our way in an imagined exploration that’s full of mystery and wonder, and also the exposure to compulsive physical power. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2018’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 10): IMMORTAL, UADA, SKELETONWITCH

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2018  10 Responses »
Jan 212019
 

 

After a weekend break, I’m resuming the rollout of this series, which will continue every day this week (and beyond). Today I decided to group together tracks from some of the bigger names in the corpse-strewn battlefields of our beloved ear-gouging genres. There are some other well-known names scattered among the rest of this week’s episodes of the list, along with lesser-known names that deserve a lot more attention.

To check out the previous installments of this expanding list, you’ll find them behind this link, and to learn what this series is all about, go here.

IMMORTAL

I suppose Northern Chaos Gods surprised more than a few people, and at least provided a resounding answer to the questions about what Immortal might be able to accomplish if and when they re-surfaced following the acrimonious departure of Abbath. If there was a surprise (and for me there was), it was that the band’s ninth album, arriving nine years after All Shall Fall, would turn out to be one of their best in such an unusually long career. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: APES OF GOD — “DYING BREED”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Jan 212019
 

 

Death metal addicts with a slavering taste for the foul and the ferocious, pay attention, because we’ve got just the thing to feed your need.

What we’re presenting today is a track named “Dying Breed” by the thrashing death metal band Apes of God from El Salvador. It will appear on the band’s gruesome and slaughtering new EP, Procession of Death, which will be released on February 25th by Death In Pieces Records.

This new EP, which consists of four new studio tracks and two live tracks recorded at Megarock Fest 2018, is the fifth entry in the group’s discography, which also includes the 2018 debut album Misanthropy. For this recording, the band’s line-up includes vocalist Cesar Canales, guitarist Rodrigo Salguero, bassist Rob Malcoms, and drummer Gabriel Puente. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: OBZERV — “PLOT TWIST”

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Jan 212019
 

 

As trained medical professionals it is our strenuous advice that you engage in extended neck exercises before listening to the Obzerv song that we’re presenting today. Failure to follow this directive could result in muscle sprain and vertebral trauma.

Actually, we’re not trained medical professionals, but we do have extensive experience with headbang-related physical damage, and we do know massive grooves when we hear them. You’ll hear them, and we predict you’ll be moved by them in extravagant fashion, from the very first seconds of Obzerv’s “Plot Twist“. But as the song’s title suggests, there’s more to the music than physically compulsive grooves. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (PART 3 OF 3): VANANIDR, RAAT, 酸葬儀 ACIDFUNERAL

 SHADES OF BLACK  1 Response »
Jan 202019
 

 

Well, here we are at the final segment of today’s extensive column devoted to black and blackened metal. If you’re still with me, I applaud your perseverance and endurance. I’m sure the bands would applaud, too, since I’m about to shower three more with praise. And of course I fervently hope that you’ve found some exciting new discoveries along the way.

VANANIDR

I’m now turning to the first of three bands who’ve pleasingly seized my attention in the past. This one is the Swedish group Vananidr, whose 2018 debut album I briefly reviewed in another one of these Sunday columns (here). Vananidr is essentially a solo project of Anders Eriksson (on the album, he was aided by Karl Thunander for the drum performance). On January 11, Vananidr released a new two-track single entitled Bleak and Desolate. Continue reading »

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