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SHADES OF BLACK: GEVURAH, SPIDER GOD, BELIAL HORDE, AU CLAIRE DE LUNE, VÉVAKI, SECRET STAIRWAYS

 SHADES OF BLACK  No Responses »
Sep 182022
 

To save time (yours and mine), I’ll dispense with the usual windy introduction and say only that some of the choices I made this week stretch the admittedly elastic musical bounds of this column, and eventually wind up completely outside them… but that doesn’t happen right away, as you’ll soon see.

GEVURAH (Canada)

Gevurah probably need no introduction to our visitors, or to anyone else who wants to feel consumed by fire when listening to black metal. As I’ve observed both in the case of their 2016 debut album Hallelujah! (which we premiered and reviewed here) and their 2018 EP Sulphur Soul (discussed here), Gevurah are devoted to the fierce power of chaos, and the unrelenting intensity of their music can be overwhelming. Based on the first song from their forthcoming second album, they’ve not moderated their stance. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY (PART 2): MACERATION, FLIEGE, DEFLESHED, VATHR

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Sep 172022
 

Lo and behold I got Part 2 of today’s round-up finished, so I didn’t completely embarrass myself. I may still be embarrassed if I can’t complete Part 3 before having to turn to personal chores and begin thinking about tomorrow’s Shades of Black column. I guess it will be like having my pants part-way down but not showing the full plumber’s crack in all its hideous glory.

MACERATION (Denmark)

In a time when metal re-births seem increasingly common, the resurrection of Maceration still seems worth an extra measure of attention, in part because for their new album Dan Swanö has again stepped in to fill the session vocal role, as he did under the name Day Disyraa for Maceration‘s first album 30 years ago.

Original guitarists Jakob Schultz and Lars Bangsholt are also back, together with bassist Robert Tengs and drummer Rasmus Schmidt (Illdisposed, ex-Myrkur). Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY (PART 1): ETERNAL HELCARAXE, DUNGEON STEEL, WARRING MONK, DEMONOLOGIST, ANTUCO

 Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Sep 172022
 


Eternal Helcaraxe

Oh shit look what I’ve done. I learned the hard way that I should never call one of these weekend round-ups “Part 1” when Part 2 is still just an idea. Too many times in the past, I never got around to writing Part 2, even when I was damn sure I could. So I vowed to myself I’d stop doing the Parts thing. If I got another Part done, it would just be a surprise instead of the culmination of an announced plan.

You know what makes the situation even riskier (i.e., stupider) today? I have ideas not just for Part 2 but also for Part 3! I could spell out those ideas right now. But there’s  a limit to how dumb I’m willing to be. I’ll just say that if they come to pass they won’t both be a continuation of choices from among fairly recent songs and videos. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: CATALYST — “WORMS AND LOCUSTS”

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Sep 162022
 

As you can tell from the title of this feature, we’re about to premiere a video for a new song by the French technical death metal band Catalyst — one that they call “the fastest and most savage song” of their repertoire. It’s from their forthcoming second album, with the intriguing title A Different Painting for a New World. We have lots of interesting details to share about the band and the new record, but this is one of those times when we’re going to cut to the chase first.

What we’re chasing (or more accurately, what’s chasing us like a Formula One car with the agility of a cheetah) is the song “Worms and Locusts“. When we get to the details, you’ll learn that the song is part of an album-length conceptual narrative, and in the tale of this track a world is purified by apocalypse. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: BURIAL

 Interviews  1 Response »
Sep 162022
 

 

(The Italian band Burial’s latest album has been out for a while, but better late than never, Comrade Aleks has caught up with Leonardo and Enrico from the band and presents this interview with them.)

So what else is there? Another death-doom band with references to H. P. Lovecraft’s mythology?  SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY! Well, yes, okay, okay… I’m ok, really…

When I see such tags, I send a message to the band immediately but somehow I skipped Burial’s release Inner Gateways to the Slumbering Equilibrium at the Center of Cosmos which saw the light of day through Everlasting Spew Records eleven months ago.

The band itself was founded by Leonardo Bellavista (guitars, bass) in 2012, and soon he got the company of Enrico Fagni (bass, vocals). They worked through Burial’s concept together, recording The Forgotten EP (2019) and the demo Presence from the Beyond (2019). The band remained a duet until 2020 when Samuele Scalise (drums) and Morgan (guitars) joined them in their unholy mess. All of the band’s members have rich experience as they spent many years in the Italian metal underground and played in different bands whose styles ranged from progressive thrash to death metal.

Burial stays far from regular death-doom, as these maniacs prefer its torturous form with a heavy emphasis on dirty and twisted death metal, but you know – Leonardo and Enrico can tell you that better. Hail Burial! Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ATRUTA — “SŁAVA ČERAVIE-LILIT”

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Sep 152022
 

The band name Atruta probably won’t be familiar to you, but the names Downcross and Khandra should be. We’ve written frequently and appreciatively about the music of those two black metal bands from Belarus (as you can see here and here, respectively), and that’s worth noting because Atruta is a new trio whose members come from those other two groups.

That pedigree alone should inspire intrigue about their music. There’s proven talent here, for sure, but what have these three chosen to do under the banner of Atruta?

The answer to that question lies in a debut album named Da Varot Apramietnaj, which will be released on October 5th by Cavum Atrum Rex (also based in Belarus). Drawing inspiration from medieval personifications of evil, with lyrical themes in their native tongue concerning darkness, evil, and death worship, they’ve recorded 8 tracks for the album, and we’re providing the first track premiere here today. Continue reading »

ACEPHALIX: “THEOTHANATOLOGY”

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Sep 152022
 

(This is Todd Manning‘s review of the fourth LP by San Francisco-based death/crust metal act Acephalix, which is set for release by 20 Buck Spin on September 30th.)

Five years is too long to wait for a new Acephalix record but that’s how long it’s been. And what a five years it’s been. Their new record, Theothanatology due out on September 30th via 20 Buck Spin, explores the idea of the death of god, an understandable train of thought where the daily news is nothing more than an autopsy of our dying civilization. The album oozes with all the pent-up anger, frustration, and anxiety of our modern world and channels it into the group’s trademark brand of atavistic, mongrel death metal. Continue reading »

DIABOLIC OATH: “AISCHROLATREIA”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Sep 142022
 

(We welcome the return of NCS contributor Hope Gould and her review a new EP by the Oregonian black/death band Diabolic Oath, out now on the Sentient Ruin label.)

Something evil haunts the Pacific Northwest. Beneath the quaintness of the moss and ferns lies a sickly, insidious rot. In recent years, the PNW’s underground has siphoned the contaminated soil of its foul minerals and tirelessly cultivates some seriously evil metal – and the soil is rich. This year alone has seen evil, grimy releases from the likes of Triumvir Foul, Hissing and Grave Infestation to name a few. Portland’s Diabolic Oath were cultivated from the very same soil, festered in it, and have again proven themselves to be a most odious force with their new EP, Aischrolatreia.

Diabolic Oath emerged conspicuously from the Oregon mire with their first full-length, 2020’s Profane Death Exodus. Setting them apart was their masterful use of fretless guitar and fretless bass to craft a warped soundscape over unconventional compositions. Aischrolatreia revisits this sound but takes on an even more hostile and raw approach. Bestial devotees are likely to find themselves being sucked into the aural filth while others who have not yet heard the call may find it a jarring journey. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SINNERY — “BLACK BILE”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Sep 142022
 

In just a couple of days the Israeli band Sinnery will release their second album, Black Bile. It comes a decade after the band’s formation and a long six years after their debut full-length, A Feast of Fools. To showcase what they accomplished in a first-class manner, they had the album mixed and mastered by Matt Hyde (Machine Head, Trivium, Slipknot, Bullet For My Valentine) and turned for the cover art to the legendary Travis Smith (yes, he’s earned that accolade).

“Death thrash” is the simplified genre description for what Sinnery do, but it’s the strong melodies and the variations among and within the songs that make the album such an adventure to experience from start to finish. Compared to the debut all those years ago, which was entirely written by vocalist/guitarist Alon Karnieli back when he was about 16-17 years of age, these tracks are more elaborate, more sophisticated, more reflective of different moods, while at the same time being more brutally extreme. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: SOLEMN CEREMONY (AND LUCIFER’S FALL, AND MORE)

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Sep 142022
 

(Comrade Aleks managed to catch up again with Australian musician Phil Howlett and engaged in a discussion that ranges among a number of his bands and solo projects, including Solemn Ceremony, whose newest album was released this past June.)

Mister Phil Howlett from Adelaide is a dedicated metal warrior, and though he has that blackened thrash project Zlórtcht, he’s well-known mostly because of his doom band Lucifer’s Fall (which we interviewed a year ago) and his doom solo project Solemn Ceremony.

It’s hard to believe but even today playing metal in Australia could be a difficult task, as you’re unable to take part in bigger fests on a regular basis, as European or American bands are. The internet helps but not the way you need if you want to play your metal stuff live!

So Nine Records released Solemn Ceremony’s second album Demise on the 10th of June and we slowly lent a helping hand to Phil and that’s it, another entertaining and in-depth interview. Want to know how to play doom in Australia and not to be depressed all the time? Here we go. Continue reading »

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