Islander

BLURRING: “BLURRING”

 Album Reviews  3 Responses »
May 082015
 

 

(Austin Weber reviews the debut album by Blurring, which features a lot of impressive veteran names in the line-up.)

While we are only now entering the fifth month of 2015, it’s already been one hell of a year for what I would dub sophisticated and or eclectic grindcore — from Theories’ debut, to the new Oblivionized, the new Antigama, the new Cloud Rat, and the just-released album Romantic Love by Dendritic Arbor. That alone is more cream-of-the-crop grind then we are typically graced with in a single year! While my eardrums are already thoroughly decimated by all these impressive grind releases, there’s another band called Blurring who are right up there at the top as well. Fans of our site may remember I last wrote about Blurring last year, and I’ve been anxiously waiting for the band’s self-titled debut ever since.

The band is a by-product and reflection of the famed and rightly lauded Rochester, N.Y., grind scene, and their line-up is jaw-dropping, with people from many of the best grind bands ever, period. First you’ve got Dan Lilker, who played in Brutal Truth and Nuclear Assault, among others. Then you’ve got two former guitarists from the almighty Kalibas, Scott D’Agostino and Matt Colbert, plus drummer Eric Burke (who is also well-known as a guitarist) of Sulaco/Lethargy fame, along with countless others. And the group is rounded out by vocalist Mark Weldin, who used to play in a band called Warblade.

When you have a band with as much pedigree as these guys have, the end result is likely to be terrifying, in the best way possible of course. But enough of me drooling over the awesome absurdity of their line-up, let’s get on to the music. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: CORPSE GARDEN’S “ENTHEOGEN” (WITH AN INTERVIEW)

 Premieres  2 Responses »
May 082015
 

 

We’ve got a double-feature in this post. First, we bring you the premiere of a full-album stream for the second album by Costa Rica’s Corpse Garden — Entheogen — which is due for release on May 15 by Satanath Records and RTM Productions. And second, we have an interview with the band’s vocalist Felipe Tencio, who provides insights into the subject matter of the songs and the changes in the band’s sound since their debut full-length in 2012.

For those of you who are familiar with that debut album, Burnt By the Light, you’re in for some surprises. Entheogen (named for a chemical substance used in certain religious, shamanic, and spiritual practices) is a savage death metal assault, loaded with dark, vicious riffs, jolting grooves, exotic melodies, electrifying solo work, and horrific roars and shrieks. Though the tempo of the 13 songs on the album varies from fleet, furious rampages to grim, mid-paced barrages, to shimmering psychoactive dreams, the overall atmosphere of the album is ominous and occult, and the production of the music gives it the sensation of overwhelming power. Continue reading »

AN NCS-SPONSORED TOUR: MOBILE DEATHCAMP AND CARNIVORA

 Metal News  5 Responses »
May 082015
 

 

About ten days ago we announced details about a tour that we’re helping to sponsor, headlined by West Virginia’s Byzantine with support from Toledo, Ohio’s Mobile Deathcamp. And now we can tell you that when the Byzantine tour reaches its conclusion, Mobile Deathcamp will join forces with Carnivora from Massachusetts, to continue on a cross-country rampage.

As previously announced, Mobile Deathcamp’s tour with Byzantine will begin on June 12 in Elmhurst, NY, and continues through a date in Asheville, NC, on June 27. And then on July 1, the Mobile Deathcamp-Carnivora onslaught will begin in Indianapolis and continue through August 9 in Danville, Kentucky, with stops in a total of 18 states. To get all the details, click on the flyer above to view an enlarged image — or check the alternate flyer just after the jump. Continue reading »

YIN AND YANG: VORUM, NEKROMANTEION, AND PSYCHEDELIC WITCHCRAFT

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  4 Responses »
May 082015
 

 

Last weekend I randomly picked three new short releases and listened to them back-to-back. And then I listened to them again in reverse order. And then I crawled around on the floor for a while trying to find my brain, which had been dislodged and fallen out somewhere along the way. I think I found it, though it might have been a walnut that I lost last week.

Anyway, I’ve decided to review all three of these lovelies in the order in which I heard them (the first time). The first two releases in this collection have some things in common with each other, but they could both hardly be more different from the third one. I’m not saying you should necessarily listen to them back-to-back, and it may actually be unlikely that your tastes are configured (as mine are) in a way that will make all of this appealing to you. But I do hope you’ll give each one at least a taste-test.

VORUM

Finland’s Vorum have recorded a new EP named Current Mouth (the cover of which is above). It will be released on CD by Sepulchral Voice Records on May 18, with vinyl coming later. It follows the band’s 2013 debut album Poisoned Void. Current Mouth will leave you bleeding at the mouth, and probably from other orifices, too. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DEMIURGON — “PILLARS OF INVERTED CREATION”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
May 082015
 

 

Back in March I discovered a new lyric video for a song called “Rex Mundi” by Italy’s Demiurgon that knocked me flat, and today we have the pleasure of bringing you another new song from the band — “Pillars of Inverted Creation”.

The song appears on Demiurgon’s debut album Above the Unworthy, which was mixed and mastered at 16th Cellar Studios by the masterful Stefano Morabito and it features cover art by the masterful Pär Oloffson. It will be released by Ungodly Ruins Production on May 31, 2015. And this song will knock you flat, too. Continue reading »

GORGOROTH: “INSTINCTUS BESTIALIS”

 Album Reviews  6 Responses »
May 082015
 

 

(Andy Synn reviews the new album by Gorgoroth.)

Somehow it’s been almost six whole years since the last proper album by Black Metal stalwarts Gorgoroth. And what a long six years they’ve been, filled with a multitude of ups and downs, highs and lows, one particularly ill-conceived re-recording, and a rather public spat with their (now ex) vocalist Pest.

So you can probably be forgiven for being a little wary about the group’s new album, their ninth (or tenth, depending on how you’re counting), and only their second with Tomas Asklund behind the kit, as well as their first with yet another new vocalist (Triumfall’s Atterigner) behind the mic.

But you needn’t be unduly concerned. Although Instinctus Bestialis may not be the masterpiece necessary to truly thrust the band back to the forefront of today’s Black Metal scene, when it all comes together it is in fact very, very, good indeed. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: SANNHET

 Interviews  3 Responses »
May 072015
 

 

(Wil Cifer provides this interview with the members of Brooklyn-based Sannhet.)

I got the chance to sit down with the guys from Sannhet and we talked about various aspects of the varied sub-genres to which they are often attached, along with other musings. Right off the bat, I hit it off with their drummer Chris who was wearing a Youth Code shirt while I was wearing a Swans shirt, so we had one of those mutual admiration band shirt moments, and from there we were just friends catching up

******

Wil – So what is it about the scene in New York that enables it to pump out so much great metal?

Chris -Diversity, the space and room to be yourself. After living there for over a decade all the touristy elements fade, but it’s a melting pot. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SHAPE OF DESPAIR — “DESCENDING INNER NIGHT”

 Premieres  6 Responses »
May 062015
 

 

A decade has passed since the long-running Finnish funeral doom band Shape of Despair released their last album, 2004’s Illusion’s Play. Finally, they have emerged again with a new full-length work entitled Monotony Fields, which will be released by Season of Mist on June 16 in North America. The title track has already premiered at Decibel, and now we bring you another — “Descending Inner Night”.

The band have commented as follows about this new song:

“We have played this song under its working title ‘Unresolved’ only in the Ukraine and Russia so far. To complement the existing live recordings, we are now presenting the album version ‘Descending Inner Night’. This was the second track that emerged for the new album and combines both the old and new elements of Shape of Despair.” Continue reading »

GODLESS ANGEL INTERVIEWS… NECROS AND KING OSCUROS OF UNDEAD

 Interviews  2 Responses »
May 062015
 

 

(Our Kansas-based friend Derek Neibarger — the man behind the Godless Angel death metal project and the inventor of the Cat Hand Rest©, returns to NCS with this interview of two members of the mysterious Undead.)

 

My introduction to Undead came by way of their first single, “Voices Within”. The blog entry that accompanied the track only had a brief excerpt from Undead’s press release. It revealed some of the legendary metal acts that have influenced the band but not much else. In a time when we’ve become so accustomed to being given lengthy band bios, Undead has chosen to share very little about the band’s creation. The faces of the band members are hidden under ominous hoods, their identities a mystery. Their country of origin was omitted. The video for “Voices Within” even broke with tradition by not including the lyrics for the song. And so it fell upon the music to do the talking, and it most definitely delivered.

“Voices Within” is a sinister dose of old school death metal, rising up from the darkest depths to claw its way out your speakers with vicious riffs and demonic growls. For me it was love at first sight. I had to interview this band. My prayer to the dark lords of the underworld did not go unanswered. I was granted an interview with Necros and King Oscuros, shortly before the release of their debut album, False Prophecies. Continue reading »

CONTROLLING THE NARRATIVE

 Mosh Pit  6 Responses »
May 062015
 

photo by Mitch Dobrowner, near Galatia, Kansas

(Storm clouds have been building in Andy Synn’s mind, and now comes the downpour in this opinion piece.)

Human beings are storytellers. That’s undeniable. It’s part of our nature. We construct stories around our world in order to make sense of it.

You see it in everyday life, in times of comedy and tragedy. You see it in everything from politics to personal relationships, and in the way we act and present ourselves to the world at large.

Whether consciously or unconsciously we’re always constructing some sort of narrative, putting the pieces together in a way that allows us to get a grasp on things.

And it happens in music too, both in obvious and more subtle ways. Continue reading »

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