Islander

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): ODIOSORDO — “CON IL BUIO NEL SANGUE”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  2 Responses »
Oct 232019
 

 

We’re told that “Odio Sordo” is the Italian translation for “Deaf Hate”, a phrase that connotes bitterness, fury, holding a grudge. And while the Italian trio Odiosordo have embraced those words in their name, and those sensations in their musical hybrid of hardcore and black metal, their new album Con Il Buio Nel Sangue becomes a musical journey in which different experiences also come to the surface. As they tell us, the name they’ve chosen represents internal struggle against personal challenges — “born by the need of merging a strong sense of discomfort, deep disorientation, but also the will of fighting back and finding a way through life.”

As you will have probably guessed by now, the music isn’t “easy listening”. It’s raw, bleak, and ravaging, stripped of pretense, authentic in its channeling of despair and rage, and of misery and defiance. Alternately bruising, oppressive, searing in its intensity, and soaring in its grasp for a way out of harrowing times, it proves to be a relentlessly gripping experience — and we’re giving you the chance to learn that for yourselves through our full-album stream today, before the record’s October 31 release by Third I Rex, VBMF (Italy), and the Third I Rex affiliate, Imperatrix Mundi Records. Continue reading »

ALCEST: “SPIRITUAL INSTINCT”

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule  No Responses »
Oct 232019
 

 

(We present Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by the French duo Alcest, which will be released by Nuclear Blast this coming Friday, October 25th.)

Back in the days of yore, it was commonly believed that the world we inhabit, the terrestrial sphere, was surrounded and permeated by an omnipresent, invisible essence called aether.

More fundamental than earth, more intangible than wind, more primal than fire, and more fluid than water, the search for this unseen fifth element (which, thanks to Luc Besson, we now know was actually “love” all along) consumed the lives of many of the most prominent scientists, thinkers, and philosophers of the time but, ultimately, was all for naught.

Of course, if they’d had access to the music of Alcest then the results might have been very different. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: DOLD VORDE ENS NAVN

 Interviews  No Responses »
Oct 232019
 

 

(Karina Noctum brings us this interview of Håvard Jørgensen and Cerberus, members of the Norwegian band Dold Vorde Ens Navn, whose debut EP Gjengangere i hjertets mørke was released on September 13th by Soulseller Records.)

This year has seen a much welcomed ’90s revival in the Norwegian scene. Old bands have been resurrected, new albums bringing back the much-cherished old vibes have been spawned, and so on. It’s probably for the best, I think, to go back and bring back forward what lots of people have been missing.

In the midst of this revival period we have Dold Vorde Ens Navn, a band that gathers the long musical experience of Håvard Jørgensen (co-founding member of Satyricon and early Ulver member), Vicotnik (Dødheimsgard, Ved Buens Ende), Cerberus (ex-Dødheimsgard), and Myrvoll (Nidingr). Together, they concocted something that in spite of having roots in the past has a unique touch and stands on its own. This interview offers lots of information about how this musical endeavour came about to be, as well as the current situation and future plans. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): DENIAL OF GOD — “THE HALLOW MASS”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Oct 222019
 

 

Denial of God are a distinctive presence in the long ranks of black metal bands. For one thing, the Danish brothers Azter (guitars) and Ustumallagam (vocals) have been creating music under that name since 1991. Apart from the fact that few bands have lasted so long, Denial of God have also crafted an unusual aesthetic for their music, moving in increasingly cinematic and theatrical directions, with a pronounced supernatural atmosphere, that has given birth to the description of their creations as “Black Horror Metal”.

Seven long years have passed since the band’s last album, Death and the Beyond, with only The Shapeless Mass EP (released this past June) as a sign of renewed activity. That EP was intended as a springboard into a new full-length, and that new album is now fast approaching. Entitled The Hallow Mass, it will be jointly released by Osmose Productions and Hells Headbangers this coming Friday, October 25th, and today it’s our privilege to bring you a complete stream of this massive new work. Continue reading »

PULVERIZED: “FALSUS IN UNO, FALSUS IN OMNIBUS”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Oct 222019
 

 

(Here’s Vonlughlio’s review of the first full-length by the Filipino death metal band Pulverized.)

Falsus in Uno, Falsus in Omnibus has proven to be a great surprise this year. Released by Pathologically Explicit Recordings on October 20th, it’s the debut album by the brutal death metal band Pulverized, who hail from the Philippines.

The band have been active since 2015. Their first EP, Realm of Sufferance in 2016, was an example of raw, in-your-face, straightforward BDM that captivated me right away, and they followed that with a 2017 demo the includes three songs which are also on the debut album. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: WE.OWN.THE.SKY — “HEAVY HEART”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Oct 222019
 

 

Given the tastes of the people who write for this site, we tend to focus on the more extreme forms of underground metal. But if you’ve been coming here regularly, you’ll know that there are exceptions, and we’re about to make another one — though not an exception to the general rule against singing, because there’s no singing at all in the song we’re about to present, which is accompanied by an eye-catching video.

The song in question, “Heavy Heart“, comes from the new album by the Athenian post-rock/post-metal band we.own.the.sky. Entitled Home, the album will be released on November 1st. While the song might not be as extreme as most of what you’ll find here, it’s definitely a heavyweight track, in keeping with its title — but that’s only one of its charismatic qualities. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: CONVOCATION

 Interviews  2 Responses »
Oct 222019
 

 

(In this new interview Comrade Aleks spoke with the two members of the Finnish band Convocation, whose tremendous debut album was released last year by Everlasting Spew Records and whose second one is nearing completion.)

Helsinki-based torturous funeral / doom death duet Convocation were a nice discovery for me. I missed the initial release of their crushing debut Scars Across, which happened in March 2018, but why not approach it today? It’s grim, it’s massive, it’s an out-of-this world thing.

One of the band’s founders, Lauri Laaksonen (all instruments), takes part in the prolific death metal act Desolate Shrine, and Marko Neuman (vocals) spent his time in avant-garde outfit Candy Cane, and besides that he sings in the well-known band Dark Buddha Rising. So Convocation didn’t jump out from nowhere — this is quite a successful collaboration between two active underground artists. And both of them are here today. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: OFFICIUM TRISTE — “LOSING GROUND”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Oct 212019
 

 

With a couple of stops and re-starts in the early years, the Dutch doom/death heavyweights Officium Triste are now well into the third decade of their existence, having honed their mastery of tragedy to a razor’s edge, creating music of both heart-breaking poignancy and crushing despair. On December 13th they will release their sixth album, and their first through Transcending Obscurity Records. Entitled The Death of Gaia, it explores ruinous loss on an epic scale, with music that matches the sweeping catastrophe of its conceptions.

Today we present the album’s closing track, “Losing Ground“, which provides a grand summation of the band’s powers, and of the changing dynamics of their music. It provides little reason for hope, but its hopelessness is nevertheless absolutely spellbinding. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): TYRANT GOATGALDRAKONA — “MARQUIS OF EVIL”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Oct 212019
 

 

In the ten years that have elapsed since the formation of Tyrant Goatgaldrakona, this Hungarian death metal duo have been measured in their release of music, with only one album (2013’s Horns In The Dark) and a pair of EPs to see the cold light of day since 2009. But now there’s a third EP on the horizon, a two-track offering named Marquis of Evil that’s set for an October 25th release on 7″ vinyl by Blood Harvest Records — and we have a full stream of it, in all its monstrous glory, for you today.

As trained medical professionals, we strongly advise you to get your neck loose before listening to the opening song, “Conspiracy With Marquis“. Okay, we’re not really trained medical professionals, but we still know sore-neck-trauma when we feel it, and this track is a merciless neck-wrecker — though it doesn’t begin that way. Continue reading »

HOUR OF PENANCE: “MISOTHEISM”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Oct 212019
 

 

(Here’s Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by the Italian death metal band Hour of Penance, which is set for release on October 25th by Agonia Records.)

Being in a band is hard. I can tell you that right now. Simply being good at what you do isn’t enough to guarantee you’re going to be successful (whatever that means).

Truth be told there’s a lot more involved than just being able to string together a series of sick riffs, including (although many don’t like to admit it) a fair bit of luck and good fortune.

But being able to build an actual career out of your music is even harder still. It takes all those aspects alluded to above – skill, luck, ambition – and more.

Perhaps most importantly it takes perseverance, and an ability to weather all the ups and downs, the false-starts and set-backs, that come with the territory. And, even then, lots of bands still don’t make it (through no fault of their own).

All this is a long-winded way of saying that it’s very rare indeed for bands to make it as far as Hour of Penance have here, with the imminent release of their eighth album, Misotheism. Continue reading »

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