Islander

AN NCS PREMIERE: MISANTHROPY — “OF SULKING AND THE WRATHFUL”

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Nov 012024
 

Consider the Lovecraftian monstrosity that dominates the cover of Misanthropy’s new album, and the whirling red-tinged void into which the monster is about to plunge its captive, and then consider what it might be telling you about the music.

That artwork (credit to Pedro “Lordigan” Sena) turns out to be a very fitting preview of the new album, the name of which is The Ever-Crushing Weight of Stagnance. As demonstrated by the first two singles released from the album so far, and the third one we’re presenting today, Misanthropy‘s newest creations are indeed monstrous, out-of-this-world, and whipping whirlpools of exhilarating metallic madness. Continue reading »

THE BODY: “THE CRYING OUT OF THINGS”

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Nov 012024
 

(We present Christopher Luedtke‘s review of a new album by PDX-based The Body, which will be released by Thrill Jockey Records on November 8th.)

There are not many bands out there you can truly call unique. Cheesy as it may sound, it is the reality of things. Genres are built and maintained by many different bands sharing a similar sonic sound and expounding on it on a smaller scale. Usually there is a slow branching out of things, though some buck tradition. But there are certain bands out there that exist in broader terms. The Body has been one of those bands for the better part of their existence now.

Originally beginning as a more straightforward heavy, doom sound, by the early stage of the aughts and 2010s The Body was less than interested in maintaining orthodoxy. As such they have occupied a unique space that few other bands share. And their latest solo release, The Crying Out of Things, continues to solidify this space they have made. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): EVERTO SIGNUM — “BEASTIARY”

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Oct 312024
 

(written by Islander)

As we all know, lyrics are almost always secondary or tertiary attractions in extreme metal, even when they mean the world to the lyricist, in part because they’re usually indecipherable and in part because they’re often just not very compelling. And so when the lyrics are as fascinating and gripping as they are on Everto Signum‘s new album Beastiary, they warrant special attention — which we’re giving them even before we turn to the main focus of this article — a premiere stream of all the music packed into the album by this avant-garde black metal duo from Portugal.

Here is the album’s thematic concept, as described by the Monumental Rex label, which will release Beastiary tomorrow (November 1st):

“The band stays true to their elemental background by writing an immersive story that guides the listener through a chain reaction of natural disasters. These calamities are beastialized – manifested as wild uncontrollable beasts exhibiting intrinsic animalistic shapes, traits and behaviours.

“The plot is comprised of seven chapters, each consisting of a contextual introduction that describes the scenery and sets the mood for the destruction to come, and an interpretation of the actual cataclysm.

“Written in English, the expressively poetic lyrical narrative portrays a journey from an ice-covered mountain top through a valley, down to the depths of a meromictic lake and finally into a perennial forest to witness the dreadful wrath of ancient forces.” Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: WITCHPIT — “THROUGH EYES OF APATHY”

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Oct 312024
 

(written by Islander)

If you’re making a heavy Halloween playlist you’d be remiss if you don’t include something from Witchpit, and not just because of their name. Their music itself has the capacity to sound witchy and spooky, to reach plateaus of intensity that are scary, even when delivering the kind of monster riffs and visceral punch that shake the floor and the foundations beneath it.

It’s also an especially good time to be thinking of these South Carolina sluggers because they’ve readied a new song and video for this Halloween night that we’re about to reveal. It’s from their forthcoming second album Forever Spoken, which will be out in mid-November via Heavy Psych Sounds and is adorned by the great Dan Seagrave‘s attention-seizing cover art, also perfect for Halloween. The song’s name is “Through Eyes of Apathy“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HOLY DEATH — “SAD BUT TRUE” (METALLICA COVER)

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Oct 302024
 

(written by Islander)

This Halloween will mark five years of Holy Death, the doom-drenched death metal crushers who call Long Beach, California home. To commemorate the anniversary, and to tide fans over while the band work on their next album, they’re releasing a new EP of cover songs.

The EP leads with Holy Death‘s rendition of Metallica‘s “Sad But True“, and that’s the name of the EP as well. It’s the group’s way of paying respects to a band and a song that have been a “massive influence” on them, and we’re premiering that cover today.

The EP also includes re-mixed and re-mastered versions of two other cover songs they’ve previously released — Metallica‘s “Creeping Death” and Entombed‘s “Wolverine Blues“. Altogether, the EP makes for an excellent way to make your Halloween more electric — and more horrifying. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): CARVED MEMORIES — “THE MOIRAI”

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Oct 302024
 

(written by Islander)

The melodic death metal band Carved Memories originated in Costa Rica but are now settled in Berlin, Germany. They released a self-titled EP seven years ago, and now have a debut album set for release on November 1st on Black Lion Records.

The album’s name is The Moirai, and its eight songs have a unifying theme:

The Moirai delves into the concept of absolute power, exploring the immense forces that dominate and control their realms. Each track reflects the overwhelming presence of a massive deity or emotion, personified as an unstoppable force reigning supreme. The lyrics narrate the influence and dominion of these mighty entities, portraying them in their full might — unchallenged and eternal. The themes center around the unyielding nature of these powers, representing a reign that cannot be defied.

In line with this conception, the album’s music delivers hard-charging intensity and often reaches heights of towering supremacy, but it creates other experiences as well — and you’ll have the chance to become immersed in all of them through our full album premiere today. Continue reading »

PSYCHONAUT 4: “…OF MOURNING”

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Oct 302024
 

(We present Didrik Mešiček‘s review of the newest album by Psychonaut 4, which was released on October 25th by Immortal Frost Productions.)

Georgia (or Sakartvelo as the Georgians call it) is the country you may know as the birthplace of Stalin or as the country that invented wine. You win some, you lose some, I suppose.

Personally, I’m not a fan of either but it is a country I’m definitely going to at some point, as it looks absolutely beautiful with its lovely mix of high Caucasus mountains and the shores of the Black sea. But because that makes Georgian life look too positive here’s another Georgian export – the depressive suicidal black metal band, Psychonaut 4, whose new album was released on the 25th of October. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: CRYPTORIUM — “HORRID EXULTATION”

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Oct 292024
 

(written by Islander)

Let’s dive right into the video and song we’re premiering today from Descent Into Lunacy, the debut album of the Swedish death metal band Cryptorium, and then come back to fill in the details.

“Horrid Exultation” is the name of the song, and that title is the epitome of truth-in-advertising: There is not one thing about the song that’s sane, not one thing amenable to reason or mercy, only the kind of demented and frenzied viciousness that spawns ghastly visions — and a finale that brings horrors of a different kind. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VEILBURNER — “WOE YE’ WHO BUILD THESE CROSSES… ARE THOSE WHO WILL SERVE US DEATH”

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Oct 292024
 

(written by Islander)

Our beloved Metal-Archives (well, beloved by many, despised by others) still calls the music of Pennsylvania-based  Veilburner “Black/Death Metal”, even after a run of six albums released so far, culminating in 2022’s VLBRNR, that throws bombs in the midst of such genre conventions, coupled with lyrical formulations that are no more conventional than the music.

M-A is to be forgiven for so rudely simplifying the band’s musical eclecticism in their expressions of fury and disgust over humanity’s self-mangling. Especially after VLBRNR, we’d drown in hyphens and slashes trying to incorporate all the musical ingredients the band have so freely thrown into the mix in musically rendering the recurrent absurdities of human existence.

M-A is also to be forgiven because Veilburner‘s eclecticism isn’t scattershot. They do have their anchor-points in death and black metal, like the bolts that connect a swaying bridge to its rocky endpoints above a chasm, the bridge they race across in ways both dizzying and dazzling (and frightening) without pitching headlong into a flailing descent with no good end.

The history built by those first six albums makes the impending release of a seventh one a signal event, with intrigue being a chief part of the anticipation: What have they done now? We already have signs, because two album tracks have surfaced so far, and now we bring a third one to your attention. Continue reading »

GAEREA: “COMA”

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Oct 292024
 

(We present DGR‘s review of the new album by Gaerea, released on October 25th by Season of Mist.)

Portugal’s Gaerea are a smart band. Early on in the group’s inception someone within the band’s lineup recognized the value of both visual aesthetics and theatricality in their music. The group existed as part of a mid-aughts wave of black metal and doom metal groups that quickly took to the anonymization of masks and robes – so that even though the band could claim that the focus was to be put more on the music, you were more than likely drawn to the visual spectacle as well.

Gaerea have been perfectly positioned to both react to and become part of current trends within the heavy metal sphere. You could say there’s luck involved but many of their movements have been remarkably shrewd as well. They could be treated from an “every second tells a story” perspective, as both musically and visually there is always some sort of bombastic movement happening, the hand dancing and wild contortions befitting a Microsoft Kinect Game slowly evolving to hold just as much importance as the music itself.

And, while many bands can and have gotten by on just sheer spectacle and imagery – and have done so fairly well – it helps that Gaerea‘s music has long matched the lunatic puppetry taking place onstage. Continue reading »

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