LISTMANIA 2023: POPMATTERS’ LIST OF “THE 20 BEST METAL ALBUMS OF 2023”

 LISTMANIA 2023  6 Responses »
Nov 222023
 

As part of our annual NCS LISTMANIA extravaganza we re-publish lists of the year’s best metal that appear on web sites which appeal to vastly larger numbers of readers than we do — not because we believe those readers or the writers have better taste in metal than our community does, but more from a morbid curiosity about what the great unpoisoned masses are being told is best for them. It’s like opening a window that affords an insight into the way the rest of the world outside our own disease-ridden nooks and crannies perceives the music that is our daily sustenance.

One of those sites is PopMatters. It has been in existence since 1999. In its own words, the site “is an international magazine of cultural criticism and analysis” with a scope that includes “most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, sports, theatre, the visual arts, travel, and the Internet”. PopMatters, which has been independently owned and operated since its inception, claims that it is “the largest site that bridges academic and popular writing in the world”.

As in past years, PopMatters has today published a list of “The 20 Best Metal Albums“ of the year, again under the by-line of Spyros Stasis and Antonio Poscic. You’ll find that list below. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: FAWN LIMBS & NADJA – VESTIGIAL SPECTRA

 Premieres  No Responses »
Nov 222023
 

(Andy Synn handles hosting duties for our premiere of the new collaborative album from Fawn Limbs & Nadja)

The last few years have undoubtedly blessed us with a number of phenomenally creative collaborations between artists whose creativity and talent is absolutely unquestionable.

From Cult of Luna & Julie Christmas to Oranssi Pazuzu & Dark Buddha Rising to Mizmor & Thou – and many more besides – the fruits of these labours has often (though not always… Lulu anyone?) resulted in a collective whole far greater than the sum of its parts.

And now its the turn of Fawn Limbs & Nadja to combine their forces.

Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: WOE UNTO ME

 Interviews  No Responses »
Nov 222023
 

(Not long ago the former Belarusian band Woe Unto Me, now relocated to Poland, finished a  tour of Europe in support of their exceptional 2023 album released by M-Theory Audio. At a break in the tour Comrade Aleks conducted an extensive interview of the band’s co-founder Artyom Serdyuk, and at last we present that today.)

Woe Unto Me (Grodno, Belarus) crossed the borders of funeral doom metal some time ago, but we label them now as a funeral band almost by inertia. Both the EP Spiral-Shaped Hopewreck that we discussed two years ago here with one of the band’s founders Artyom Serdyuk (guitars, vocals, keyboards) and the new, third album Along the Meandering Ordeals, Reshape the Pivot of Harmony carry us further to the territories of the progressive genre with the deep atmospheric feeling.

The band just returned from a mini-tour and now the guys prepare to start another one, so I’ve tried to catch up with Artyom again and to talk about the new album and the situation around the band. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): TODOMAL — “A GREATER GOOD”

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres  2 Responses »
Nov 212023
 

The odds are high that once you’ve seen the painting above by Paloma Pájaro that adorns the cover of TodoMal‘s new album The Greater Good, you won’t forget it. The odds are also high that it may perplex you. The choosing of the art was obviously unconventional, but then again, so is the music.

The Greater Good is the second full-length by the TodoMal duo of Christopher B. Wildman and Javier Fernández, following the release of Ultracrepidarian in 2021. As they conceive it, the new album follows dark paths, “where doubts about what is right or wrong, what we do in this world to earn redemption, or why we have a nefarious tendency to destroy what we love are depicted against a smoldering forest”. “The journey continues,” as they say, “despite the obstacles”.

And so we have a Spanish band whose name means something like “all is evil” or “all is wrong” ambitiously seeking “The Greater Good”. They put a lot of thought and work into making it a continuation from their first album that would both expand their ambitions and manifest them more precisely, and today you’ll be able to hear every minute of what they achieved in advance of its release on November 24th by Ardua Music. Continue reading »

CRUCIAMENTUM – OBSIDIAN REFRACTIONS

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Nov 212023
 

(Some things in life are worth waiting for, and Andy Synn says that includes the new Cruciamentum)

Common consensus would tell you that 2023 has been a great year for Death Metal, and I… disagree.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not been a “bad” year, by any means, but I’ve found – and I know this will be controversial – that a lot of the so-called “great” albums of the year have been hugely overhyped, and I’m honestly worried that we’re right on the edge (if not already over it) of total oversaturation.

And while that might sound appealing to some, it seems to me that with more and more bands churning out these largely interchangeable slabs of slavishly retro-riffs and second-hand songwriting there’s becoming less and less that actually distinguishes them from one another with each passing month.

But, even so, there have still been some major bright spots here and there – albums have burned that little bit brighter, stood that little bit taller, and been that little bit bolder – and one of them, as you’re about to discover, is the new record from Cruciamentum.

Continue reading »

HAPPY 14TH BIRTHDAY TO US!

 Birthday Posts, Metal News  41 Responses »
Nov 212023
 


painting by the great Zdzisław Beksiński

On November 21, 2009, I made the first post at this blog. On the 21st day of every November since then (except one year when I forgot to do it until a few days later) I’ve made a post celebrating our birthday. And here I am doing it again, because we’ve survived another year.

In these annual posts I usually explain how I had no ambitions or expectations when I started the blog, nor any training or experience as a music writer, and that the sum total of my motivation was to create an enjoyable diversion for myself from the grind of daily life, and to indulge my burgeoning interest in heavy music. And there, I just did it again, albeit in fewer words than in many other years.

In these annual observances I also tend to reminisce about how many things about NCS have changed from the early days, and about how surprising it is to me that we’re still here. Some of you remember the early days, because you were here with us then and haven’t left. Others who have begun checking in here more recently might yawn if I indulged in that kind of nostalgia, so let’s just skip that, as I have the last couple of years, and get right into expressions of gratitude and the annual tradition of mind-numbing statistics (though they’re less mind-numbing this year).. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: STRIGAMPIRE — “SOLD OUR SOUL”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Nov 202023
 

Canada is home to a great many metal bands, and over 60 of them participated in the contest to determine which one would represent the country at Wacken Metal Battle in Germany during the famed Open Air festival last August. The chosen band was Strigampire from Trois-Rivières in Quebec.

It was good timing for the band, because they’re following that appearance next month with a new album named All To Dominate, their first release of new music in five years (and again with their strigoi mascot Stan on the cover). One single from the album has already been released, and today we bring you an official video for another one — “Sold Our Soul“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: STUPOROUS — “DECORATING THE WILLOW TREE”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Nov 202023
 

“Stuperous,” in case you were wondering, is a word found in the dictionary. It means “stunned or confused and slow to react (as from blows or exhaustion)”. Synonyms include dazed, foggy, groggy, and lethargic.

A strange choice for a metal band name, you might think, especially a band whose music stands as an antonym for “stuporous”. Momentarily, you’ll see why we think that.

As for the band itself, it’s the brainchild of Floris Velthuis, whose name you might recognize as the main person behind the unorthodox black metal band Meslamtaea. In Stuperous he’s joined by trumpeter Izzy Op de Beeck, who’s also part of Meslamtaea, and singer Devi Hisgen, who we’re told works in psychiatry, a useful specialty in the context of the trio’s debut album Asylum’s Lament, given that the lyrics are about mental disorders and depression, based on true events in a psychiatric facility.

That album is now set for release on January 25th by Void Wanderer Productions and War Productions, and what we have for you today is the premiere of the album track “Decorating the Willow Tree“. Continue reading »

RACETRAITOR – CREATION AND THE TIMELESS ORDER OF THINGS

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Nov 202023
 

(Andy Synn offers his thoughts on the new album from Racetraitor, which was released last week)

As I may have mentioned before, my original introduction into the “alternative” music scene came via Punk and Hardcore, with the latter in particular playing a fundamental and formative role in my early musical development.

And while my tastes eventually expanded and evolved, Hardcore has always retained a special place in my heart, with last year in particular doing a lot to renew my faith in the genre with its bumper crop of artists and albums representing the wide variety – from the melodic to the metallic, the punkiest to the proggiest – and resurgent vitality of the modern scene.

Unfortunately, by and large, 2023 hasn’t been anywhere near as good, with too many of the biggest and most hyped-up releases, in my opinion at least, making a lot of noise without really saying anything.

But that’s not an accusation that could ever be levelled at Racetraitor, and their new album is no exception.

Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: IHSAHN, DÉLÉTÈRE, NIPHREDIL, ANGEL OF THE ABYSS, RAAT, DISCIPLINE

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET  4 Responses »
Nov 192023
 

I hurt all over, thanks for asking. The result of a week spent trying to exercise muscles that turned into limp noodles after months of sedentary living. If I could get all the lactic acid out of my body it would probably fill a barrel.

Well, maybe hurting all over wasn’t the worst thing as a basis for picking the music in this Sunday column today. It led to selections that will make you hurt in different ways too.

IHSAHN (Norway)

The hurting begins with “Pilgrimage To Oblivion“, a new song from Ihsahn that surfaced three days ago in two different versions. The main version combines orchestral bombast and terrorizing screams, frenzied strings and plundering percussion, to create a thoroughly harrowing experience in keeping with the song’s title and the video’s tale of personal ruin. Continue reading »

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