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OUR LIST OF 2014’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: PART 18

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2014  4 Responses »
Jan 142015
 

 

Welcome to Part 18 in the continuing rollout of our list of 2014′s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs. For more details about what this list is all about and how it was compiled, read the introductory post via this link. For the other songs we’ve previously named to the list, go here.

I failed to post another installment in the list yesterday, due to the annoying distractions of the job that, unlike this one, actually pays me for services rendered. However, I’m resuming the rollout today with two songs by bands who are among the best-known in the American extreme metal scene and who both released very strong albums in 2014. The cover art for both albums is also wonderful.

JOB FOR A COWBOY

Andy Synn review JFAC’s new album Sun Eater for us, and I thought he hit the nail on the head:

The struggle for credibility and acceptance by the Death Metal elite has been a long and arduous one for Job For A Cowboy. Their Deathcore roots and that name certainly tend to prompt a rather knee-jerk reaction from a certain section of the Death Metal community, despite the fact that the band’s purposeful progression from internet darlings to legitimate contenders has been an absolute joy to behold. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: JANI KOSKELA (0XíST)

 Interviews  1 Response »
Jan 142015
 

 

(In this post Evita Hofmane of the Latvian e-zine P3LICAN interviews Jani Koskela of Finland’s 0 X í S T. Music from the band’s live performances and their forthcoming second album is also included with this interview.)

 

The Finnish band 0 X í S T, for “zero exist”, was formed in 2008. The band aim to create dark metal that stands truthfully for the description in their name. Therefore, 0 X í S T perform music that is menacing, heavy, and dark.

0 X í S T completed their first recording, the Unveiling the Shadow World CD-EP in September 2009. The EP was released in April 2010 by the French extreme doom metal label Ostra Records. After releasing a two-track demo in October 2010, the band started to concentrate on producing their debut album Nil. Nil was released in December 2012 as a joint effort by Ostra Records and Cold Void Emanations. It includes six doomy tracks of dark metal.

The band recorded their second album One Eon during the summer of 2014 and has announced that it will be published as a CD and digital release on the 4th of February 2015. A limited edition picture vinyl print will follow in March. One Eon will feature six works of slow and heavy Dark Metal, with cover art made by Hungarian artist Péter Takács. The album was recorded at D-Studio and partly recorded and mixed at 0 X í S T’s private studio. The band will self-release the album on Death Shrine Offerings (www.deathshrineofferings.net). The CD and digital versions are now available for pre-ordering at http://0xist.bandcamp.com.

In this interview the band’s leader Jani Koskela speaks about their new album, touring, and music itself. Continue reading »

2014 LISTMANIA WRAP-UP

 LISTMANIA 2014  6 Responses »
Jan 142015
 

 

Rumor has it that Andy Synn will eventually be delivering his annual list of favorite songs, but with that exception, our 2014 edition of LISTMANIA has finally drawn to a close. Or to put it differently, since we’re halfway through 2014′s first month, I decided it was time to wrap it up.

Our 2014 series of lists was another extensive one — we posted more than 30 lists with accompanying commentary. Some of these were lists that appeared at other “big platform” web sites or magazines — places with large audiences, many of which cover musical genres well beyond metal. We also published our own staff lists, of course. But the largest group of list posts came from guest writers — NCS readers, band members, and fellow bloggers/writers. Plus, we also received many lists in reader comments on THIS POST.

In this article I’m collecting links to all of the 2014 year-end lists that we published, divided into categories and listed within each category in the order of their appearance. For people who are looking for the best metal that 2014 had to offer, I think these lists provide a tremendous resource.

Thanks again to everyone who contributed to 2014 LISTMANIA and to everyone who made time to read what we pulled together. Continue reading »

BASIC NEEDS (A COMPILATION)

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Jan 142015
 

 

This morning’s arrivals at the NCS e-mail in-box included news from a label named Divergent Series, which appears to be located in Boston. The e-mail alerted me to the fact that Divergent Series had recently released a black/death/doom/grind compilation entitled Basic Needs. I clicked on the Bandcamp link in the e-mail just to take a quick look at what’s included in the comp, and sat bolt-upright when I saw the list.

The comp includes 14 tracks from 12 New England bands, about half of which we’ve written about and recommended at this site — including Human Bodies, Sexcrement, Ramlord, Grue, Fórn, and Morne.

It doesn’t seem to matter how much new metal is being unleashed on a daily basis — lovers of metal (or at least people who frequent our site) are always hungry for new discoveries. Just based on the names in this comp that I know, this seems like a good vehicle for exploration. Continue reading »

PROFANITY: “HATRED HELL WITHIN”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Jan 142015
 

 

(DGR has found an EP released in December by a resurgent German band that he really seems to be enjoying, as he explains in this typically extended and typically entertaining review.)

Death metal groups reanimating from the dead after a decade-plus-long hiatus seems to be happening more in the underground scene these days. Given that some of these groups never had a huge reach to begin with, it seems slightly easier today for them to appear at different points in time after years of silence, but I also think that the internet has started to have a much bigger effect on the decision of groups to come back.

The net has become something of a great equalizer, where at least on the right sites, small bands with a handful of fans can appear on the same front page as a group in a bigger spotlight. This phenomenon has helped make it possible for people to re-discover bands who have been dormant for years, bands who may have struck out PR-wise or just never been lucky in breaking out of their region, and groups who were clearly onto something and the stars just didn’t align for them at the time.

Now, people have platforms upon which to preach about such groups, converting fans and at times encouraging people to reunite. Added to this is also the relative ease with which bands can reappear now, with sites like Bandcamp making it a breeze to set up shop and get themselves out there, so long as their recordings aren’t hot garbage. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: NEOLITH — “OF THE ANGEL AND HIS ORISON”

 Premieres  4 Responses »
Jan 132015
 

About one week ago we included in one of our “round-ups” of new music a teaser video for a new album coming from Non Serviam Records by a Polish blackened death metal band named Neolith. At that time we noted the label’s announcement that a full song would be online soon. And sure enough, the full song is now here — and we’re bringing it to you!

The name of this new song is “Of Angel and His Orison” and it’s drawn from Neolith’s fourth studio album, Izi.Im.Kurnu-Ki.

The phrase “blackened death metal” isn’t terribly precise as a genre label; it covers a multitude of different sounds. What you will here in this song is completely electrifying. That’s not terribly precise either, so allow me to elaborate. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VIVUS HUMARE — “DER SCHMERZ WECKT”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
Jan 132015
 

 

The German black metal band Vivus Humare came together in 2007 and released their first demo, Prolog, in 2008. Now, the Eisenwald label is on the brink of releasing the band’s debut album, a five-track work entitled Einkehr. Today we bring you the premiere of the album’s opening song, “Der Schmerz weckt”.

Einkehr is an album that is best heard in a single sitting, from start to finish, uninterrupted. It’s a dynamic and atmospheric work that works the listener’s moods like clay in the hands of a craftsman, and its achievements aren’t fully realized until the entire process has run its course and reached its final, finished form.

Having said that, “Der Schmerz Weckt” is also a very strong stand-alone track that in itself reflects the dynamism and atmospheric power of the album as a whole. Continue reading »

MARDUK: “FRONTSCHWEIN”

 Album Reviews  8 Responses »
Jan 132015
 

 

(Andy Synn wrote this review of the new album by the almighty Marduk.)

I think few people would argue that Marduk have long since established themselves as Black Metal legends. With a career lasting 25 years (and counting) and incorporating thirteen full-length studio albums as well as numerous EPs, live albums, and compilations, the Swedish war-dogs have proven themselves time and time again as a force to be reckoned with.

Moreover, there’s a good argument to be made that albums like Opus Nocturne, Heaven Shall Burn…, and Nightwing (and, I would argue, Rom 5:12) are – like them or not — practically legendary themselves, and often cited as key influences and cornerstones of the genre by both bands and fans alike.

So, with such a grand, macabre discography under their collective (bullet) belt, you might wonder where exactly does a new record fit, in the grand scheme of things? Continue reading »

AN NCS FULL-ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): ARCHGOAT — “THE APOCALYPTIC TRIUMPHATOR”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  4 Responses »
Jan 132015
 

 

(We bring you the premiere of a full-album stream of the new work by the primordial Finnish horde Archgoat, preceded by Will Cifer’s introductory review.)

This album is another argument in favor of the dominance of European black metal. This Finnish band have been spreading the unholy word since the church-burning second wave of black metal in the early nineties. They have left a trail of splits and EPs in their wake, but this is only the band’s third full-length… so it’s kind of a big deal.

Archgoat combine the more classic metal sounds of early black metal with elements of a more grime-coated flavor of death metal than an entity like Mortuary Drape does, even though the two bands circle a similar sonic landscape. Archgoat’s strength is in mid-paced and even crawling tempos, and the mood of the music is often shrouded in a heavy cloak of doom. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2014’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: PART 17

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2014  4 Responses »
Jan 122015
 

Today we come to the 17th Part in the continuing rollout of our list of 2014′s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs. For more details about what this list is all about and how it was compiled, read the introductory post via this link. For the other songs we’ve previously named to the list, go here.

As you may have noticed by now, I have fun not only picking the songs for this list but also deciding which songs to combine in each installment. There’s usually some kind of thematic connection, whether in the style of the music or otherwise. But today there really is no connection — other than infectiousness, of course, and a similar hair-raising power in the vocals.

DOMAINS

For reasons I don’t understand, the 2014 debut album by the Spanish band Domains didn’t appear on many year-end lists. I assume this was solely a result of being too far under the radar, because Sinister Ceremonies really was one of the year’s best and most interesting death metal albums. Continue reading »

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