Islander

AN NCS PREMIERE: VELDRAVETH — “ON THE PRECIPICE OF ENLIGHTMENT”

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Nov 122021
 

 

The Venezuelan black/death band Veldraveth have now reached their twentieth year of existence, and they commemorate the landmark with a new album, their fourth, which bears the name Martyrdom. It bears the hallmarks of experience and the spirit of ambition, generating visceral assaulting power but also elaborately creating a range of atmospheres that chill the skin and entrance the mind.

Martyrdom has been set for co-release by GrimmDistribution with More Hate Productions and Kuyen Producciones on November 29th. They recommend it for fans of Aosoth, Sinmara, Svartidauði, Mgła, Uada, Weapon, Antaeus, Cherontas, Abigor, Nightbringer, and The Ruins of Beverast.

Those are good references for what Veldraveth have achieved on Martyrdom, but an even better clue is the song we’re premiering today — “On The Precipice Of Enlightment“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: BLACK WHISPERS — “WEIGHING FADE AWAY”

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Nov 112021
 

 

Dusk is the third full-length of the Costa Rican depressive black metal band Black Whispers, which began as a solo project in 2013 and is now a full band that has made live performances.

The album represents an evolution in style. While it could still be considered a work of DSBM, it reflects avant-garde and experimental ingredients within a framework of raw black metal, and the results are captivating — as you will discover for yourselves through our premiere of a new album track named “Weighing Fade Away” in advance of the record’s November 28 release. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: POWER BEAST — “AMONG THE CARCASSES”

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Nov 102021
 

On November 26th the Leprotic Limb label will present a tape release of a dinosaur-themed split by two Pacific Northwest bands — Carnotaurus and Power Beast. The title of the split is Turonian Terror, named for the second age in the Late Cretaceous Epoch and for the monstrous creatures that roamed the earth in that period — such terrors as Raptors, Ankylosaurs, Pachycephalosaurs, and the sub-aquatic giant, Kronosaurus.

Carnotaurus, self-identified as a Mesozoic Death Metal band, has already premiered one of its own tracks from the split, and today we premiere one by Power Beast. Its name is “Among the Carcasses“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: OFERMOD — “INAX YA LIL”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Nov 102021
 

The formidable Swedish black/death band Ofermod has wasted no time returning with a new album, just a year after 2020’s Pentagrammaton (which was itself a double album). The new one is entitled Mysterium Iniquitatis, and it’s set for release on December 3rd by Shadow Records (with distribution by Regain). It  sees the original lineup joined together once again – Belfagor on guitar and vocalist Nebiros (Malign, Mephorash) – with session bass by Magnus “Devo” Andersson (ex-Marduk) and session drums by Calle Larsson.

The first “single” from the record was the title track, which also begins the album. It made a tremendous impression, and today we present another one of the new album tracks that also relentlessly seizes attention. This one is named “Inax Ya Lil“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: BENOTHING — “ABSURD MALIGNANCY WITHIN (SAPIENS APOPTOSIS)”

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Nov 082021
 

Today we are helping to introduce the debut EP Temporal Bliss Surrealms by the Finnish death metal band Benothing, which is set for release on November 26th by Everlasting Spew Records. It is a truly eye-opening four-song collection, in part because it has an authentically savage and sinister old-school flavor, but even more so because of how unpredictably kaleidoscopic the music is.

As you’ll discover from the EP track we’re premiering today — “Absurd Malignancy Within (Sapiens Apoptosis)” — Benothing are formidable in their ability to discharge a barbaric barrage of sound with feral hostility, but aren’t content to do only that.

The music also changes rapidly, all the performers are adept at adding surprising permutations, and all the electrifying and elaborate dynamism makes the song (like the EP as a whole) really stand out. As the EP title suggests, it becomes surreal as well as evil. Continue reading »

ANNOUNCEMENTS

 Metal News  7 Responses »
Nov 072021
 

 

Normally this would be the time for a new SHADES OF BLACK collection, but instead I’m alerting you to the likelihood of a 10-day diminution of NCS content beginning today, because today I’m leaving for Iceland and won’t be back home for 10 days. The main purpose of the trip will be to attend Ascension Festival MMXXI, and to get reacquainted with the country’s many other attractions (this will be my third trip overall).

I don’t know if I will make posts about the festival. I’m going to try to just enjoy it, but I don’t think I’ve attended any metal music event in the last decade when I haven’t inserted some words and photos about the experiences at NCS. We’ll see.

I did agree to continue writing premieres during the weekdays while I’m gone, but not as many as usual. I also have a big backlog of interviews sitting in draft, and I’ll probably do what I usually do to get those ready for publication (or at least some of them). I think one or two of my NCS comrades will make a few posts while I’m gone as well. Still, if you’re a frequent visitor you’ll probably notice a change. (more after the jump) Continue reading »

OVERFLOWING STREAMS: REDEMPTOR, TORII, ARCHITECTS OF AEON, MÜTTERLEIN, SACRIFICIUM CARMEN, KAPALA, MORGUILIATH, DEAD WAR, HUSQWARNAH, FIELDS OF MILDEW

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Nov 062021
 

 

Given the usual massive flood of new music this past week, I was hell-bent on getting at least one round-up completed before the weekend — but I failed. I had this lined up for Friday, with all the picks made, but ran out of time before I could finish it.

About these picks: When I made the selection on Friday morning it didn’t turn out at all like I thought it would. I had been building a mental list during the week just based on the band names I added to my monstrous list, most of them at least fairly well-known, but not one of those names is included here.

What happened was that as I started listening, this group just fell into place before I ever got to the names that had affixed themselves to my mental plan. These fell into place because they are all intense assaults on the senses and the emotions, albeit in different ways, until you reach the final track, which helped me partially recover from all the music that preceded it — but that last song still haunts me. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: DELPHIAN — “SOMNAMBULANT FOREGOER”

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Nov 052021
 

The death metal band Delphian was formed by brothers Jason and Matthew Williams while attending Musicians Institute in Los Angeles, CA. In an effort to fully realize their envisioned amalgam of technical, progressive, and groove metal within the framework of death, they enlisted drummer Kevin Talley (Suffocation, Dying Fetus) on drums and bassist Martin Rygiel (Decapitated, Lux Occulta) for the recording of Delphian’s debut album, Somnambulant Foregoer.

The new album is set for release on November 12th, and to pave the way Delphian have been releasing lyric videos for some of the nine tracks that it encompasses. Today we have the pleasure of adding to that sequence through our premiere of the album’s explosive and electrifying title track. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: UKRONAKH — “WHERE SORROW EMBRACES ANGER”

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Nov 052021
 

On November 27th a consortium of labels led by the Ukrainian GrimmDistribution will release the debut album Stonewounds (Каменю рани) of Ukronakh, and they introduce it with these words:

“The Ukrainian project Ukronakh (У кронах) was founded in 2020 by Artyom ‘Voidger’. Ukronakh’s music combines genres such as atmospheric black metal and death metal, reflecting the personal inner experiences of the author, inspired by the atmosphere of the moss-covered forests of the Carpathians and the aesthetics of pre-Christian cultures of the northern peoples…. The album is saturated with the atmosphere of the damp Carpathian forest. The listener will have a story about the spirits of antiquity who wander the forest paths of the Carpathian mountains in oblivion and find no rest….”

We share those words because they are worth keeping in mind as you listen to the album track we’re premiering today, “Де журба обіймається зі злістю” (Where Sorrow Embraces Anger), although the name of the song itself provides a telling introduction to the thoroughly gripping music. Continue reading »

WHORRIFY: “WHORRIFY”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Nov 052021
 

(Ryan Dyer, who last appeared in our pages touting the insanity of one-man bands in China, now returns to trumpet the destructiveness of Calgary’s Whorrify.)

In the annals of Canadian metal history, according to Metal-Archives.com, there have been at least 5000 Canadian metal bands. In Calgary, specifically, there have been over 200. I often wonder what would happen if all of these band members were situated in one place, like a little island. Whorrify are the new settlers on this island arriving via surfboards, wearing Thrilla Krew threads and setting foot on this beach like they were grind messiahs. Continue reading »

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