Islander

OUR LIST OF 2021’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 12): CHAINSWORD, CHESTCRUSH, CHOIR

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2021  3 Responses »
Jan 202022
 


Chainsword

 

Can you tell how I settled on this trio of songs for today’s installment? Could it be that I focused on the “C’s” in my alphabetized list of candidates? Why yes, that could very well be true. In fact, it is true.

It also pleased me to choose songs that reflected the recommendations of my long-standing NCS comrades DGR and Andy Synn, plus of course one of my own choosing. Not that I would have picked a song just because DGR or Andy pushed for it, because this is my list after all, and they’re just my servants. But in my infinite wisdom I agree that their two recommended songs are worthy choices.

(You’ll find the preceding Parts of this list (and an explanation of what it’s all about) through THIS LINK.

CHAINSWORD (Poland)

After my Norwegian friend eiterorm brought the cover of Chainsword‘s 2021 album to my attention I readily agreed that we needed a five-nipple pentagram chain emblazoned on out site. Little did I know that the band’s just-released single from the album, “Daemonculaba“, would kick my ass as hard as it did. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: KRALLICE, NEGATIVA, UNRU, HAUTAJAISYÖ, IMPLORE, BLAZEMTH

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Jan 202022
 

 

Here are a half dozen new tracks and videos from forthcoming records that caught my attention over the last 24 hours, and are worth your attention. I think you’ll find that altogether they make for an interconnected playlist that flows well.

KRALLICE (U.S.)

If there is now any kind of reliable forecast for new music from Krallice, it is to expect the unexpected. It seems evident that the many creative forces within the band are simply uninterested in plowing the same furrow twice, and instead they give free rein to what interests them and how they’re feeling at the moment. Like all good mavericks, the impulse to shake things up also seems to be alive and well. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2021’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 11): ZMARŁYM, XANATHAR, SIGNS OF THE DYING SUMMER

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2021  1 Response »
Jan 192022
 


Zmarłym

 

You could call this installment of the list a “Shades of Black” segment. Each band plays black metal, but the styles are quite distinct from each other. All three of these songs got stuck in my head the first time I heard them, and I still enjoy re-living the experiences many months later.

The grouping is book-ended by two Polish bands, with an Italian solo project in the middle, and I hope the songs I’ve chosen will induce you to explore the full releases they came from because all three are worth the time.

If you happen to be cruising into this list for the first time, you’ll find the preceding Parts (and an explanation of what this list is all about) through THIS LINK. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): FERAL — “SPIRITUAL VOID”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  1 Response »
Jan 192022
 

(photo by Arbre E. Saldana)

The French crust/hardcore/grind band Feral chose their name for a reason that becomes obvious when you listen to their second album Spiritual Void. They attack almost relentlessly, with raw, no-holds-barred intensity — intensity that comes through in both the emotional fuel of the music and in its mauling and pulverizing sonic power. It is musical catharsis of a very high order.

The album is set for release on January 21st through Source Atone Records and Basement Apes Industries. For very good reason they recommend it for fans of All Pigs Must Die, Cursed, Napalm Death, and Trap Them (and we might add Misery Index and Rotten Sound to that list). You’ll understand the basis for those recommendations when you hear our premiere stream of the entire album… a handful of paragraphs from now. Continue reading »

VOIDCEREMONY: “AT THE PERIPHERY OF HUMAN REALMS”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Jan 192022
 

 

(Here’s Alex Atkinson‘s review of a new EP by California-based VoidCeremony that was recently fired into the void by 20 Buck Spin.)

California’s tech-death monstrosity VoidCeremony have given us a quaint dose of things to come with their three-track cassette release At the Periphery of Human Realms.  I usually steer away from tech-death, but something about these four members’ ability to navigate a song like a rabid Cujo always pulls me in.  Their all-star crew, pulling from such heavyweights as Incantation, Stargazer, and Atramentus to name a few, should be enough to get even the most annoying dingleberry a-twinkling.

For anyone who lives under a rock and has not heard VoidCeremony’s debut LP Entropic Reflections Continuum:  Dimensional Unravel, check out NCS’s review back in July of 2020 and listen to it as soon as possible.  It is like falling into a waking manic nightmare. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2021’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 10): THE CROWN, VEILBURNER, ALUSTRIUM

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2021  2 Responses »
Jan 182022
 


The Crown

As you can see, we’ve made it to 10 installments of this list, and this one brings the total number of songs identified so far to 30. If I’m able to continue at the current pace, revealing another 3 songs every weekday from now to the end of the month (when I’m going to try to force myself to stop), we’ll reach a grand total of 19 Parts and 57 songs, so we’ve now crossed the halfway mark. On the other hand, I might decide to throw in one more segment at some point so we have an even 20 Parts and 60 songs.

By the way, you’ll find the preceding Parts (and an explanation of what this list is all about) through THIS LINK. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: PYRRHIC SALVATION — “REVELATIONS (OF AGONIES TO COME)”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Jan 182022
 

 

Back in 2016 then-NCS writer Austin Weber (who later moved over to curate the “Tech-Death Tuesday” column for Metal Injection) unearthed a debut demo by a group named Pyrrhic Salvation which made a big favorable impression. As Austin wrote at that time, “This is some dense, eclectic, and multi-layered tech-death the likes of which few bands can conjure…. While I’m hardly jaded, it does take a lot to impress me, and the two songs on display here really have my jaw permanently dropped to the floor.”

Since then, Pyrrhic Salvation have expanded from an instrumental duo (guitarist Michael Altobello and drummer/fretless-bassist Sagar Nadgir) to a three-person unit that includes a vocalist (Chrisom Infernium of Veilburner). Though separated by geography, the trio have worked closely together to create a debut full-length that’s set for release on February 18th. The name of the album is Manifestum I, and today we’re helping spread the word through our premiere of an album track called “Revelations (of Agonies to Come)“. Continue reading »

ROUND SIX: NCS TAKES OVER GIMME METAL AGAIN ON JANUARY 25TH

 Metal News  No Responses »
Jan 182022
 

Way back on the 17th of August, 2020, three of the slaves who toil at NCS (Andy Synn, DGR, and Islander) appeared as guest DJs at GIMME METAL, curating a two-hour on-line radio show in which we spun tracks of our own demented choosing, interspersed with our own pre-recorded banter, and also engaged in live on-line chats with listeners. Since then we’ve done it four more times, and as you can see we’re going to show up again for a sixth episode on January 25, 2022.

The three of us have so much fun doing this that we start planning our next playlists almost immediately after one of our appearances ends, hoping that we haven’t screwed up so badly that Gimme Metal won’t invite us back. In fact, planning the playlists is more than half the fun. The rest of the fun comes when we gather through Zoom to record the interstitial banter (though it’s probably not so much fun for Andy when he goes through all of our blabbing to cut it down) and when we get on-line during the show to engage in discussions with listeners. Continue reading »

OUR LIST OF 2021’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 9): CARCASS, ZAO, MOANHAND

 MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2021  3 Responses »
Jan 172022
 

Today we reach the eighth installment of this 2021 Most Infectious Song list. You’ll find the preceding Parts (and an explanation of what this list is all about) through THIS LINK.

I didn’t really have any organizing principle for grouping the following three tracks together, though I did think the transition from the first two tracks to the third one made for an eye-opening change. I should add that all three bands received a lot of support from the folks who contributed ideas for this list, although there wasn’t much consensus about which song from each album was the most deserving.

Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HELLFROST AND FIRE — “ACROSS THE BRIDGE OF TYRANTS”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Jan 172022
 

 

Today we have the sadistic pleasure of introducing the third single to be revealed so far from the debut album of Hellfrost and Fire, which is itself named Fire, Frost and Hell. It harnesses the talents of vocalist Dave Ingram (Benediction), guitarist/bassist Rick “Dennis” DeMusis, and drummer Travis Ruvo (Echelon, Cropsy Maniac) — with guest guitar solos performed by Scott Fairfax (Memoriam UK, As The World Dies).

If you’ve caught up with either of those previous singles you’ll already know that the band’s formulation of death metal gives primacy to skull-smashing, spine-fracturing grooves, and backs up those highly compulsive rhythmic tirades with paranormal melodic accents and of course Ingram‘s belly-deep and thoroughly ravenous growls. As we remarked after hearing those first two tracks, “no bones will be left unbroken” — and this newest song is no more merciful. Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries