Islander

THAT’S MUSIC, BUT IT’S NOT METAL: THE UGLY FACADE — MANY WATERS

 Album Reviews, That's Music -- But It's Not Metal  2 Responses »
Dec 022014
 

 

(BadWolf has been missing in action for a while, spending much of his blog time helping to run the esteemed Invisible Oranges, but today he re-surfaces with a new post in an NCS series he created to take us off our usual beaten paths,)

I’m pretty certain I am the strongest proponent of California resident Jerimiah Johnson’s one-man industrial rock-pop outfit The Ugly Façade that exists. However I’m pretty sure that’s more a result of lack of exposure than a mark of quality, because The Ugly Façade is the real deal, as evidenced by Johnson’s latest album (more of an EP, really) Many Waters, now available at any price on Bandcamp.

I first became aware of The Ugly Façade in the wake of an article I wrote for Stereogum.com about Trent Reznor, the musician behind Nine Inch Nails. Reznor is one of my favorite songwriters on earth, and while Nine Inch Nails is not precisely metal, or extreme, the band has a large following in the metal subculture, and has had a profound influence on several groups, including The Dillinger Escape Plan, The Faceless, Author & Punisher, and others. Continue reading »

NERO DI MARTE: “DERIVAE”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Dec 022014
 

 

(In this post Andy Synn sings the praises of the latest album by Nero Di Marte from Bologna, Italy.)

It’s inevitable, given how many albums are released each year, that some of them end up slipping through the cracks. Heck, I’m currently putting together all my year-end lists and finding – to my horror and shame – that we’ve accidentally overlooked a number of this year’s best albums, and simply haven’t given them the attention they rightly deserved.

So you see, even your superfluously talented writers here at NCS aren’t completely infallible.

Much like DGR’s recent write-up of the latest Goatwhore album, my review for Derivae has been sitting on the backburner for a while (though, thankfully, nowhere near as long!), while I’ve been searching for the right words to describe it… as well as the time and opportunity to put my thoughts down on digital paper.

Thankfully it seems that time has finally come, because the Italian quartet’s second album is easily one of the best, and most under-appreciated, albums released this year. Continue reading »

UNSACRED: “FALSE LIGHT”

 Album Reviews  4 Responses »
Dec 012014
 

 

(In this post, guest contributor Will Cifer reviews False Light, the forthcoming debut album by Virginia’s Unsacred.)

This Virginia band explodes from the start with an impressive burst of feral black metal. The vocals are as hateful a rasp as anything you could ask for from the States. The vocals sit up front in the mix rather than the more typical buried placement. There is a constrained chaos to the attack, making the triumphant gallops stand out.

With most heavy releases, the opening song is impressive by virtue of the sheer violence this sort of music invokes, so it’s up to the band from that point on to prove they can not only maintain the quality, but also continue to write actual engaging songs. So when Unsacred followed the opening title track with the more punk-paced “Idle”, I began to adjust my expectations. In this song, they lean heavily on blast beats and tremolo picking, sticking to the more cookie-cutter black metal approach that they defied on the first song. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: CRETIN’S “STRANGER”

 Premieres  11 Responses »
Dec 012014
 

 

Eight years ago Cretin made a big splash with the release of their debut album Freakery, but eight years in the world of metal seems like an ice age, and it’s a long time in the lives of human beings, too. As good as Freakery was, trying to predict what this band would accomplish with their new album Stranger would have been a fool’s errand. But there’s no more need for guessing games — Stranger is on the verge of being released, and you’re about to get the chance to hear it from start to finish.

Spoiler alert: it’s really, really good. It might be the best grind album of the year. It’s certainly one of the best metal albums of 2014. Now augmented by the addition of guitarist Elizabeth Schall (Dreaming Dead), Cretin are once again a force to be reckoned with. Continue reading »

YOU’RE THE BEST AROUND, NOTHING’S EVER GONNA KEEP YA DOWN 2014

 LISTMANIA 2014  12 Responses »
Dec 012014
 

 

(NCS interviewer KevinP is getting a head start on our Listmania posts with the first of several personal lists he’s tossing our way.)

 

Before my post next week on the Top 25 albums & Top 5 EP’s of the year, here’s some of my “Other Best Stuff of 2014”.

 

BEST METAL COUNTRY:  GREECE

This one was fairly easy since the beginning of the year.  Aenaon and Hail Spirit Noir started things off with a bang.  Then you had Dead Congregation, Spectral Lore, and Thy Darkened Shade.  You also have quality releases from Shattered Hope, Septuagint, Soulskinner, Principality of Hell, Varathron, and a glorious EP from Universe217. Continue reading »

AN NCS FULL ALBUM PREMIERE: CORBEAUX — “HIT THE HEAD”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  1 Response »
Dec 012014
 

 

Corbeaux are a French quartet consisting of two guitarists, a bass player, a drummer — and (almost) no vocalist. Their debut album Hit the Head is being released today, and we’re bringing you a full stream of the album’s six songs.

It might be enough to say that if you’re a fan of bands such as Russian Circles, Pelican, and If These Trees Could Talk, you will enjoy this album. But it deserves more than drive-by name-dropping. Especially for a debut album, Hit the Head is a dynamic and engrossing experience.

Both within each song and through the album as a whole, the music ebbs and flows, with changes of pace, volume, and mood that will keep you involved and interested. Anchored by distorted, grinding bass notes and precise but ever-changing drum rhythms and creative fills, the songs spin out a wide array of absorbing dialogues between the dual guitars. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: MONTE PENUMBRA AND HALF VISIBLE PRESENCE (A SPLIT)

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  3 Responses »
Nov 302014
 

 

Back in August I was halted in my tracks by the very cool cover art for a then-forthcoming split release by Portugal’s Monte Penumbra and Half Visible Presence from The Netherlands. Both bands include members of the most excellent Israthoum (W.uR in Monte Penumbra and Arvath going solo in Half Visible Presence). The cover art above is actually the artwork for the Half Visible Presence side of the split — you’ll see the complementary art for Monte Penumbra’s side after the jump.

HALF VISIBLE PRESENCE

“Downwards Deathmarch” is the name of the Half Visible Presence track, and it could hardly be better named. Announced by the sound of a funeral bell against the backdrop of a cold, desolate wind, the song is anchored by doleful, groaning, repeating riffs and slow drumbeats. It’s a deep pit of misery, corroded with distortion and its melody sodden with tears. Continue reading »

SHROUD OF DESPONDENCY: “DEFECTIVE OVERPASS”

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
Nov 292014
 

 

I’ve been swarmed by new short releases that I want to write about. I had a list of five that I’ve been listening to this week, from which I wanted to pick one for this Saturday post. And then the new Shroud of Despondency EP de-railed those plans. I only meant to give it a minute or two this morning, just to get a sense of what was going on, and, well, here we are.

For those unfamiliar with the project, it’s the brainchild of musician Rory Heikkila, originally from Upper Michigan and now a resident of Wisconsin. Prior to this new EP, the last studio release was a double-album from earlier this year entitled Tied To A Dying Animal, which featured a mix of metal and acoustic songs. This new EP does, too.

The EP also marks the beginning of the end of the project. It’s a way-station on the road to the band’s final album, the recording of which is nearing completion, before Heikkila turns his attention elsewhere (to folk music, it appears). Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: BEN PAKARINEN (COPROLITH)

 Interviews  2 Responses »
Nov 282014
 

 

(We bring you KevinP’s interview of Ben Pakarinen, vocalist/guitarist for Finland’s Coprolith, whose second album Death March was released this past spring by Violent Journey Records.)

 

K:  So you’ve recently returned from a tour in China.  Is this your 3rd time playing there?

B:  Yes, we are back from China. It was Coprolith’s second time touring there. Last fall we toured with my other band, Antagonist Zero.

 

K:  Seems like you have a fairly big following to tour there twice.  Does China give you more “love” than Europe?

B:  Yeah the shows are awesome and the crowds are crazy indeed. And this time we also released our latest album, Death March, as a special edition with 3 bonus tracks. But we have also toured a lot in Europe, the Baltics, and Russia.  I think when it’s a good show and good crowd, it doesn’t  matter which country it is. Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2014: READER LISTS OF THE YEAR’S BEST METAL

 LISTMANIA 2014  72 Responses »
Nov 282014
 

 

Happy Black Friday. We’re not selling anything and we have no discounts to offer. Instead, we want you to give us something.

We’ve reached a pivot-point in the year, with Thanksgiving now behind us here in the U.S. Now begins the countdown to the end of the year and the official commencement of the annual holiday season onslaught. In the world of metal, we’ll also start seeing more and more lists of the year’s best albums.

Back in 2009, when this site was just a few days old, I wrote a post about year-end lists and why people bother with them. The best reason still seems to be this: Reading someone else’s list of the albums they thought were best is a good way to discover music you missed and might like.

We don’t do an “official” NCS year-end “best albums” list. However, we publish the picks of each of our regular staff writers as well as a large group of guest writers (which we’ll start doing in December), and every year we also invite our readers to share their lists. If YOU have made your own list of the albums, EPs, or splits released in 2014 that you think are the best of what you’ve heard this year, we invite you to share it with us in the Comments section to this post.  Continue reading »

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