Islander

AN NCS PREMIERE: THIRD STORM — “THE CLANDESTINE GOSPEL”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Sep 042023
 

Five years after the release of their debut album The Grand Manifestation, the Swedish black metal band Third Storm are returning with a new full-length named The Locust Mantra, which is set for release on October 6th by Chaos Records. But a glance at Metal Archives reveals that the band’s roots are far older than the timing of that debut album or even Dark Descent‘s 2015 release of their first EP might suggest.

In fact, Third Storm was first formed in 1986, when the four original members were only in the age range of 14-16. They recorded a couple of primitive, thrashy demos, played about a dozen shows, and then threw in the towel in 1988.

Yet obviously something re-kindled the Third Storm spirit a quarter-century later, when original vocalist Heval Bozarslan re-started the band, joined by guitarist David Eriksson and eventually by guitarist Hasse Hansson, and now they show no signs of stopping again. Indeed, this new album is the second installment in a planned trilogy that began with The Grand Manifestation. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: SÜHNOPFER, TAUBRA, SLIDHR, BIAŁYWILK, FLUISTERAARS, RAAT

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET  3 Responses »
Sep 032023
 

Here in the U.S. we’re in the middle of a holiday that sprawls over the weekend and through Monday. Because of the nature of the celebration (Labor Day), not working is an even more central part of the holiday than it is for others. The event is also generally regarded here as marking “the end of the summer” (for reasons that have nothing to do with weather forecasting).

Probably more so on this holiday weekend than any other, I feel the urge to fuck off. Although I did sleep long and late overnight, you can see that the old NCS tradition of observing no weekends or holidays still won out today, as it will tomorrow (two Monday posts are already scheduled, and there might be a third).

The first three selections below were already on my list of things to check out in preparation for this column, but links to all three also arrived in one fell swoop yesterday from my internet friend Miloš, which eased the always-difficult process of choosing.

After those, I’ve gone off in other directions. The combined volume of the music here should give you lots of ways to fill your holiday time. If there’s one word I think applies equally to all of it, that word is “breathtaking”. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: GRAVESEND, TETRAGRAMMACIDE, DEN SAAKALDTE, KAUNIS KUOLEMATON, :UGN:

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Sep 022023
 


Gravesend

A week that ends with a Bandcamp Friday is a terrible week for the NCS in-box. During just the 24 hours of September 1st we received 310 e-mails. The count for the week was significantly more than 1,000.

Such weeks are also terrible for roundups like this one, because so many bands and labels release new music in an effort to capitalize on the attention that Bandcamp Fridays tend to attract — terrible because it results in so much music to choose from.

I sure as hell didn’t read all those 1,000+ e-mails. I did skim the subject lines, skipping over the ones that seemed geared toward selling merch and others that arrived because (annoyingly) we’re somehow on mailing lists for music that has nothing to do with metal, and others which hinted that the metal was of the kind that would hurt my head if I listened to it (e.g., power metal). And eventually I just ran out of time, so I’m sure I overlooked some things that might have been gem-like if I’d discovered them.

But the skimming process still left me with a giant pile of new music I thought might be interesting, and on top of that were other sources of recommendations outside of our e-mails that I pay attention to. Nothing more than instinct and impulse led to finding the following needles in that haystack. Continue reading »

GONZO’S END-OF-SUMMER MEGA-ROUNDUP

 Album Reviews  8 Responses »
Sep 012023
 


Radiant Knife

(NCS contributor Gonzo rejoins us with a selection of seven albums he’s been greatly enjoying over the summer that’s now drawing to a close.)

Summer has a habit of hitting me harder and faster than an Archspire blast beat, so with that in mind, I’ve developed a tradition of compiling my usual monthly columns into one bigger-than-usual compendium at the end of August.

There was plenty to sift through over the past three months – along with some other shit that was released before then that somehow flew under my radar. Let’s dig in.

Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: LACRAU — “QUEDA”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Sep 012023
 

On September 22nd the Monumental Rex label will release an album named Axioma, which is the debut recording of the Portuguese band Lacrau, whose lineup includes members of Carma and Everto Signum.

The album is a conceptual work crafted from elements of Depressive, Black, and Doom Metal that grapples with the burdens of aging, and it was inspired by the legendary Scandinavian ritual of senicide. As the band explain: “It is told that the practice consisted in elderly people throwing themselves, or being thrown, from precipices after becoming unable to take care of themselves or perform everyday tasks”.

Written in Portuguese, the lyrical narrative of Axioma describes the ritual from different angles: “the realization of the burden, the journey to the cliff, the induced feelings and the acceptance of the fate.”

In July we premiered the song “DECLINIO“, and on this Bandcamp Friday we follow that with another track premiere from the album. This one is called “QUEDA“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VACUO — “TO THE PUTREFYING CHANTS”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Sep 012023
 

Florence is one of the many jewels of Italy, a Tuscan city renowned for its art, architecture, and rich cultural history. But like all of the world’s great cities it has also been the setting for terrible events.

In areas near the city, for example, a serial killer known as The Monster of Florence murdered 14 victims (mutilating many of them) over the course of a decade or more in the 1970s’ and ’80s, and we’re told that it is in the area of those infamous events where Vacuo was born.

This solo project draws inspiration not from the beauty of Florence but from abyssal and abismal visions, and creates frightening audio renderings of them from ingredients of lo-fi black metal, abraded dungeon synth, noise, and freakish electronics.

Vacuo‘s debut, the work of sole member A., takes the form of an experimental EP named To Languish and Despair, which will be released by the Italian label Xenoglossy Productions on September 29th, and today we’re introducing you to its chilling fascinations through our premiere of the EP’s opening track, “To the Putrefying Chants“. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): GRAVE PILGRIM — “THE BIGOTRY OF PURPOSE”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  5 Responses »
Aug 312023
 

One good turn deserves another. Yesterday we premiered a fascinating new album by Forest Thrall being released tomorrow by Death Prayer Records, and today we’re premiering another fascinating Death Prayer release, also hitting the streets tomorrow.

This one is The Bigotry of Purpose, the second full-length from the Oregonian melodic black metal band Grave Pilgrim, which follows the band’s self-titled debut album in 2021, and a 2022 EP named Molten Hands Reach West. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: DAUÐARÓ, STORTREGN, AZIMUT

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Aug 302023
 

The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft a-gley, but they didn’t gang a-gley today: I succeeded in completing the second Part of today’s roundup of new songs and videos. If you missed Part 1, here’s a convenient link to that.

DAUÐARÓ (Iceland)

I couldn’t resist beginning with this first advance track from Dauðaró‘s new album Nýir Heimar because (a) the cover art is fantastic and I wanted it to be at the top of this page; and (b) the song is scary as shit and why should I be the only frightened person around here? Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): FOREST THRALL — “AMIDST PINES”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  1 Response »
Aug 302023
 

Following up their 2022 debut album Apparitions of the Golden Horned, the New England-based black metal band Forest Thrall are set to release a second album entitled Amidst Pines on September 1st via Death Prayer Records, and we’re happily premiering it in full today.

Like a trip through previously un-visited ancient woods, the album follows a continually turning path that reveals unexpected sights, not all of them of earthly origin. There is a “backwoods” and “folkloric” quality to some of the music’s ingredients, but it also rakes the senses like rusted blades. Sometimes it sounds primitive and sometimes surprisingly elegant, sometimes diabolically deranged and sometimes spellbinding. The one thing the music isn’t is mundane or dull. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: JOB FOR A COWBOY, HINAYANA, MAZE OF TERROR

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Aug 302023
 

Here we have another hump-day roundup of new songs and videos. This one is a little shorter than usual but that’s because I have ambitions to make this a two-part edition. Indeed, I’ve already picked the stuff for Part 2, but I didn’t have time to write up everything for a single post — I have to turn to an upcoming album premiere I haven’t quite finished.

However, I didn’t call this Part 1 because between now and when I can turn back to Part 2 some kind of shit could unexpectedly rain down on my plans. Time will tell….

JOB FOR A COWBOY (U.S.)

JFAC released their last album Sun Eater nine years ago. In his review, my colleague Andy opined that it saw them “taking some big leaps, and some big risks, with their sound, going proggier and more melodic overall, without pandering to notions of popularity and accessibility”. “That’s not to say it doesn’t absolutely crush when it wants to,” he wrote, “it’s just that it’s now more intricate, more layered, and more expansive in its vision, than ever before”.

Based on some of the surprised reactions to JFAC‘s new single, nine years later, you’d think Sun Eater had been forgotten. The band didn’t forget. They seem to have picked up almost right where they left off nearly a decade ago. Continue reading »

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