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AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: ABSCESSION — “RAT KING CRAWL”

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Mar 032021
 

 

It is time to hail our ever-present companions the rats, who have become even more visible and aggressive during the pandemic lockdowns, when both public human presences and their refuse have diminished. As one report noted, “Rats are coming out of hiding. They’re taking to the streets in broad daylight and invading homes in a desperate search for food.”

And so the timing seems perfect for us to present Abscession‘s lyric video for their song “Rat King Crawl”, which is off their forthcoming second album, Rot of Ages (coming later this spring via Transcending Obscurity Records). And what better way to exalt the rats — and their hunger for human flesh — than through an electrifying dose of ravaging Swedish death metal. Continue reading »

SARIN: “YOU CAN’T GO BACK”

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Mar 032021
 

 

(Here’s Gonzo’s review of the new album by the Toronto-based band Sarin, which is out now on Prosthetic Records.)

If you want to consider the future of “post-metal” as a genre, you won’t have to look very far to find the trailblazers showing us the way.

You could look as far back as the mid-’90s, when Neurosis began their transformation from sludgy hardcore into a subgenre-defining behemoth.

You could look at the glory days of ISIS circa 2005, when Aaron Turner and co. dished out slabs of ethereal heaviness that defied explanation.

And now, you can look at bands like Toronto-based Sarin, whose nasty, emotive brand of sonic vitriol is poised to bring post-metal into the present – with a vengeance. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): REQUIEM FOR OBLIVION — “HINDSIGHT 2020”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Mar 022021
 

 

Almost four years have passed since we last heard from Requiem For Oblivion, who make their home in Erie PA. Their last album back then, Burning Nation, was a head-spinning fusion of technical and progressive death metal that was multi-faceted, unpredictable, and electrifying. And now the band is returning… and some things have changed.

Requiem For Oblivion have marked their return with a new EP named Hindsight 2020 that will be released on March 5th, and which you’ll be able to hear for yourselves through our premiere of a full stream. Trying to sum it up as a challenge, but here’s a stab at it:

The music is mechanistic and merciless in its destructiveness but also freakish and twisted in its bizarre and surprising contortions — a display of cold machine power dialed up to titanic levels but operating within a state of untreatable psychosis. The grooves are so massive and punishing that they’ll tempt you to ruin your neck, but everything else about the music (and, to be honest, even the grooves themselves) will keep you (and your sanity) off-balance, to the point that by the end you may be asking, “What the fuck just happened?” You’ll wonder where you’ve been and how the hell you’ll find your way get back to where you started. Continue reading »

BÆST: “NECRO SAPIENS”

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Mar 022021
 

 

(Andy Synn wrote the following review of the new album by the Danish band Bæst, which will be released on March 5th by Century Media.)

Despite my many years writing, reviewing, and prognosticating about Metal – whether for NCS or Terrorizer or whoever – I still don’t really understand how the hype machine works.

Why does one band get big and another, doing the exact same thing (sometimes even better) not?

What makes one particular style of music suddenly explode in popularity while others seem destined to linger in obscurity?

And what, pray tell, does it take to get your voice heard over the deafening hype hurricane?

You see, ever since they released their first album (2018’s Danse Macabre) I’ve been practically yelling from the literal rooftops about how great Bæst are – easily the equal of your Blood Incantations, your Tomb Molds, or whoever else you might want to mention – and I’ve only gotten louder since they released the even better Venenum in 2019.

So, with the imminent release of the group’s third album, I think it’s high time people came round to the fact that Bæst are simply one of the all-round and undisputed best bands in Death Metal. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SACRILEGIOUS CROWN — “PLENILUNIUM CULT”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  6 Responses »
Mar 022021
 

 

Raw black metal is a tiny and obscure niche within the greater world of extreme metal, but one with fervently devoted adherents among both performers and listeners. But as small as the niche is, the music within it isn’t all the same thing, any more than it is in other micro and macro metal realms. Some creators, for example, create abrasive and unpleasant assaults on the eardrums, relishing the antagonisms unleashed by such mutilating lo-fi attacks. Others follow different paths, and one of those is the intensely atmospheric one followed by the Italian one-man band Sacrilegious Crown.

Active since 2015, with three demos and two full-lengths in the catalogue, Sacrilegious Crown is about to release a new EP named Plenilunium Cult via Xenoglossy Productions, and we have a full stream of its remarkably chilling sensations for you today in advance of that March 5th release. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: REVULSION

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Mar 022021
 

 

(Not long ago we published Aleksha McLoughlin‘s review of the excellent self-titled debut album by the Finnish death metal band Revulsion, which was released on February 5th by Transcending Obscurity Records, and Aleksha has now followed that up with a live recorded interview of Revulsion members Atte Karppinen (drummer) and Tuomas Alatalo (bassist), a transcription of which you’ll find below.)

 

What was it like signing up to Transcending Obscurity Records? They have some great bands on their label, like Gaera and De Profundis.

It was exciting, of course; our first signing and immediately to an international label. We obviously had heard about them through Sepulchral Curse and Sadistik Forest, we know the guys from that band. So we already had friends who had signed up with them. It was quite a clear choice in that sense because we already had an idea of what they could do and what kind of connections to the industry they had, how we could get our music out there.

We were surprised how quickly Transcending Obscurity Records responded to our questions about the signing. Yeah, it didn’t take long for him to reply. He was like, “Let’s get this album out there, let’s get you guys some visibility”. Because it’s obvious today, in this kind of competitive environment, with a lot of bands, labels and everything like that, it’s hard to get your voice out there and get your band seen and stand out. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: UNFLESH — “HOLOCAUST OF STARS”

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Mar 012021
 

 

Two years after releasing their debut album Savior, the New Hampshire extremists Unflesh are returning with a new album and a revised line-up. Entitled Inhumation, the new album, which is set for release on April 2nd, is the work of founding vocalist/guitarist Ryan Beevers (ex-Solium Fatalis) along with two new members: bassist Orion Hubbard (ex-Excrecor) and drummer Jeff Saltzman (Aversed, Allegaeon (live), Continuum (live), ex-Solium Fatalis).

In ways that match the album’s conceptual inspirations (more on that later), the music also reflects a more immersive and indeed atmospheric take on the band’s brand of death metal, which draws into play ingredients of black metal as well as eye-popping technicality.

To help introduce the album, what we have for you today is the premiere of one of the album’s most exhilarating tracks, “Holocaust of Stars“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ISCHEMIC — “SCABS”

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Mar 012021
 

 

Gourmets of death metal who prefer to consume their musical flesh only after it has become rotten and infested with maggots will smack their lips and drool over the Ischemic song we’re premiering today. And for those who prefer to dine while surrounded by preternatural terrors, the experience will be even more galvanizing.

The song in question is “Scabs“, which suits these unhealed and unhealthy sounds, particularly because you’ll want to go back and continuing picking at them repeatedly. And the odds are that after you’ve heard it you’ll want to further investigate Ischemic’s self-titled new album from which this is the first advance track, which is set for release on April 2nd. Continue reading »

BLINDFOLDED AND LED TO THE WOODS: “NIGHTMARE WITHDRAWALS”

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Mar 012021
 

 

(We present Todd Manning‘s review of the new third album by the New Zealand band Blindfolded and Led to the Woods, which is set for release on March 26th.)

At first glance, one might mistake a band named Blindfolded and Led to the Woods for a brutal, slam-inspired Death Metal group, but while this New Zealand-based quintet is certainly Death Metal, their take on the genre is much more nuanced and complex than their aforementioned brethren.

Blindfolded and Led to the Woods construct a sound based on the dissonance of Gorguts combined with the technical Death-Grind assault of Cephalic Carnage. While they may not be alone in drawing on such influences, what truly sets them apart is their focus on the details of their sound. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: MONTE PENUMBRA, YITH, KANONENFIEBER

 SHADES OF BLACK  7 Responses »
Feb 282021
 

 

I won’t repeat what I wrote yesterday (fucking day job… electrodynamic particle accelerator… last hurrah…). Suffice to say I don’t have much time for NCS at the moment, or for the next couple of weeks, so today’s SOB is briefer than usual. But still good, of course, like a delicious appetizer that a djinn materializes to drop off and then vanishes, leaving you to forage for the rest of the meal yourself.

MONTE PENUMBRA (Portugal/Iceland)

My oh my, how my eyes brightened last week when I saw that Monte Penumbra had returned. I confess I had forgotten to check for news about this project with the passage of time. After all, it has been roughly five years since their last release, a 2016 EP named The Black Realm Vigil, and even longer since their first album, Heirloom of Sullen Fall (2013). But the music isn’t easily forgotten, hence the gleam of brightness in my puffy bloodshot eyes. Continue reading »

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