Islander

AN NCS EP PREMIERE: KRULLUR — “DEAD LIVE!”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Feb 242023
 

The world is obviously a very big place. Most of us will only glimpse relatively tiny corners of it in a lifetime’s worth of travels. Similarly, there are vast numbers of far-flung metal bands most of us will never get to see on stage, no matter how addicted we are to their music, and studio records just don’t often come close to capturing the explosiveness of some bands’ live performances.

Houston, Texas-based Krullur is undoubtedly one of those bands a lot of people overseas, or even in the U.S., will never get to see as they destroy venues with their crazed and crushing amalgams of thrash, death metal, punk, and grindcore. But what we’ve got for you today is the next best thing, the premiere stream of a record called Dead Live! that does an astonishingly effective job of bringing listeners right into the head-exploding blast zone. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: FERUM — “DESOLATE VANTAA”

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Feb 242023
 

We have one hell of a ferocious and frightening video for you today from the death metal band Ferum for a song off their 2022 debut album Asunder / Erode. It’s a thrilling experience to watch and hear all by itself, but also a timely reminder of what this part-Italian, part-Estonian trio accomplished on that record.

The album is one we had the pleasure of reviewing and premiering here last August, shortly before its release by the Unorthodox Emanations division of Avantgarde Music. If you happened to see the cover art by Paolo Girardi (one of his most hideous creations), we wager that you haven’t forgotten it (it’s down near the bottom of this article, just in case). And if you heard the album, we wager you haven’t forgotten it either.

For those who might have missed out on Asunder / Erode, we’ll share a few of our comments about it later in this feature, but now let’s get right to the new video. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HEAVEN’S DAMNATION — “STORMS, FLOODS AND FIRE”

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Feb 242023
 

One warning we occasionally give when we spread the word about new music is for people to take deep breaths before they listen. We’re doing it again now, and we really, really mean it this time.

The title of this new song — “Storms, Floods and Fire” — is its own warning siren, though perhaps it might have been more accurate if it had included “…At the End of the World.” It’s the first single to be revealed from the surprising self-titled debut album of the Danish band Heaven’s Damnation, just in time to seize attention before its March 3rd release by Vendetta Records. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: UNPURE, MARIANAS REST, NEGATIVE PRAYER

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Feb 232023
 

 

Since I’m snow-bound this morning and can’t make it to a job-related commitment at mid-day I had time to pull together one more short round-up, to go along with the other one from earlier today.

UNPURE (Sweden)

This seems to be a day for returns from the grave, following my selections from Dååth and 7 H.Target in the earlier round-up. After a silence spanning nearly 20 years, Unpure come back with a new album named Prophecies Ablaze, which will be released at the end of March by Invictus Productions and The Ajna Offensive, and that record is the source of my first pick in this installment. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): DISGUSTULENT — “LOD”

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Feb 232023
 

You can guess from this Vancouver trio’s name that creating shiny and seductive music is not their mission. Instead, what you’ll encounter on their debut EP LOD is death metal of a particularly crushing, manic, and mind-mangling variety. But it would go too far to claim that their music is nothing but foul and fetid malignancy and decay, which might be another conclusion you leap to in considering their name. Vicious and voracious it is, but it’s strikingly dynamic and equally capable of creating head-spinning spectacles.

Though the EP you’re about to hear is Disgustulent‘s debut release, it doesn’t sound like anyone’s first effort, and indeed the band’s members have already made their marks in other formations, with guitarist/vocalist Vitharr and bassist Shawn Hillman also having performed as members of SVNEATR and drummer/vocalist Taylor McDonald lending his talents to Death Machine, Blackwater Burial, and Cranial Fungus.

They chose the name Disgustulent, by the way, from a Cerebral Rot song called “Crowning the Disgustulent”. And in its lyrical themes this first EP is based on the world and lore of Diablo (specifically Diablo 2). Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: DÅÅTH, 7 H.TARGET, SARCOPHAGUM

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Feb 232023
 

I don’t know why I bother counting, but I have 23 new songs and videos on my listening list from what surfaced over the last 7 days, not to mention all the ones that were on there before. But I need to keep this round-up short, because there’s a premiere coming up, but maybe I’ll get a second one finished today after that.

DÅÅTH (U.S.)

No chance I would have missed the new Dååth single digitally released yesterday by Metal Blade, because I got timely enthusiastic messages about it from both DGR and TheMadIsraeli. But I would have paid attention anyway, since seeing their name again revived a ton of fond memories from the first decade of the new millennium, back when they were taking the metal world by storm. Continue reading »

DEATH ETERNAL

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Feb 232023
 

(Today Axel Stormbreaker focuses attention on an octet of releases by the Virginia-based label Death Eternal.)

Death is final. Death is eternal. Even if there exists some sort of afterlife in what lies beyond, it’s probable we won’t be carrying any of our present memories along. Blame me if today’s mood seems a bit philosophical, but current events can make a guy ponder. You’re wondering what’s the point of it all, or why it’s an aspect all of Earth’s religions won’t dispute. Or even how would our essence grow in the first place, if memories are not supposed to matter.

That being said, Death Eternal Records from Richmond, Virginia is a name rather suitable for an underground DIY endeavor. Especially one that deals with ominous music, even when their criteria do grand salvation on a personal degree. What you may find here, none can quite guarantee. What you shall miss, no one could really answer. All you’ll be getting is nothing besides the dusty offerings of a small-scale label, dedicated to promoting local talent among other relative bands. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ARDENT NOVA — “SOUND THE HORNS”

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Feb 222023
 

Ardent Nova have done a fantastic job seizing attention in short order. There’s the band’s name itself, which promises both determined fervor and blazing splendor. Then there’s the attention-grabbing cover art (by neo sabbath) for the band’s self-titled debut album, which is simultaneously dark and brilliant, ominous and mystical.

And foremost of all, the two songs that have been revealed so far — as well as the one we’re presenting today — are pure heavy metal glory, earning Wise Blood Records‘ comparative references to the likes of Nite, Amon Amarth, viking-era Bathory, and the much more recent but equally striking work of Majesties.

For those of you who haven’t yet encountered Ardent Nova‘s tremendous music, it’s been a long time coming. It’s the solo work of Mike Pardi (Empty Throne, ex-Draconis), joined on the album by drummer Ryan Gallagher, and first took shape 22 years ago under the name Pagan Thunder. We’ll let Mike Pardi explain more: Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: LOTAN — “DIABOLIS VICTOR”

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Feb 222023
 

The Danish melodic black metal band Lotan, whose lineup shares members with Vanir, got off to an excellent start in 2021 with a pair of EPs, and we happily premiered songs from both of those. Now they have a debut self-titled album on the way, and in early December of last year and then again in January, they released two singles from the album, both of them with lyric videos. Today we present a third one, which will be released as a single this coming Friday, and it only confirms the album’s harrowing and haunting power.

The first of the singles, “Ignis“, blazes in daunting grandeur yet feels forlorn and even anguished. The vocals are scorching, the drums bring the thunder, and the song manages to dig its talons under the skin despite how emotionally unsettling it is. There’s also a moody and mysterious digression near the middle that adds to the song’s allure. Continue reading »

GOROD: “THE ORB”

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Feb 222023
 

(Professor D. Grover the XIIIth returns to NCS with the following review of Gorod’s new album, which is set for release on March 7th.)

Greetings and salutations, friends. If you’re reading this, I can only hope that you are familiar with French tech-death masters Gorod, whose career now spans two and a half decades (counting their early years as Gorgasm). The Orb is only their seventh full-length release, with a pair of EPs (and a couple early demos) sprinkled in, but at this point in their career their work has reached legend status in certain corners of the metal world. In my humble esteem, Gorod have for me represented the gold standard of modern tech-death ever since Process Of A New Decline, the album that truly got me interested in tech-death in the first place, and while that release remains my favorite to this day their output has been consistently high.

Gorod‘s style has evolved incrementally with each release, with the biggest shifts generally following a change in the band’s lineup. While the band have been spearheaded from the beginning by guitarist Mathieu Pascal and bassist Benoit Claus, the additions of guitarist Nicolas Alberny and, later, drummer Karol Diers have contributed to the band’s growth. The most notable change came with the additional of current vocalist Julien “Nutz” Deyres after the release of Process, and he made his presence and expanded vocal range felt immediately on the Transcendence EP, especially on that release’s 15 minute title track. ‘Transcendence’ brought with it an expanded focus on progression that paired exceptionally well with the band’s technical prowess and knack for writing catchy hooks and grooves, and the band has further explored that progression on subsequent releases. Continue reading »

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