Islander

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): VURVARAT — “THEURGIA MORTEM”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Jul 052021
 

 

“All good things come to those who wait.” That hopeful proverbial saying is attributed to the English poet Lady Mary Montgomerie Currie (1843-1905), under her pseudonym of Violet Fane. Yet the same poem that’s the source of the saying also includes this stanza: “‘Ah, all things come to those who wait’ / (I say these words to make me glad) / But something answers soft and sad / ‘They come, but often come too late.'”

It has been a long wait for Theurgia Mortem, the debut album of the occult French black metal band Vurvarat. One advance song from the album first surfaced in January 2018, and we premiered a second one in April of that year. At last, it will be released soon by Atavism Records, and thankfully patience is rewarded. It is indeed very good, and comes not too late. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (PART 2): MORAST, ANTIMONUMENT, ISKALDE MORKET, DUSKSEEKER, BEZDECH

 SHADES OF BLACK  3 Responses »
Jul 042021
 

 

Happy Fourth to all of you in the U.S. Hope you have something worth celebrating, even if it’s mainly the chance to safely commingle in the flesh with people you haven’t seen in a while. As usual on a Sunday, I’m celebrating the discovery of new dire, dismal, demented, and demolishing blackened sounds.

In Part 1 of this thing yesterday I focused on a handful of individual tracks. Today, with some help, I’ve selected a group of full releases — most of which pay little homage to ancestral Scandinavian second-wave black metal. Like yesterday I’ve mostly kept my commentary briefer than usual. I’ve got other tasks ahead of me today, though they won’t include cookouts, fireworks, or drowning in beer.

MORAST (Germany)

I’m bookending this collection with recommendations from starkweather‘s Rennie, beginning with Morast’s new 7″ EP, The Palingenesis, which was released on May 21st by Ván Records/Totenmusik. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (PART 1): GOTMOOR, PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS, ULVIK, BLACK MASS PERVERTOR, RAMIHRDUS

 SHADES OF BLACK  7 Responses »
Jul 032021
 

 

Here in the US we’re in the midst of a big weekend holiday, the biggest of the summer in normal times, and in this time also a celebration of release from covid bondage, though whether it’s anything more than a temporary furlough remains to be seen. But here at NCS I pride myself on observing no holidays, only hangovers. And since I don’t have one today I decided to get a head start on what has turned out to be a two-part edition of this column.

What I’ve chosen for Part 1 are four songs from forthcoming albums, and one from an album that’s been out for five months. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all of them. Though Part 2 isn’t written yet, what I have in mind is a selection of recent new full releases. Barring a hangover, it will arrive in the usual spot on Sunday.

GOTMOOR (Belgium)

To begin, I decided to celebrate a different incidence of independence than the one our holiday here commemorates. To explain, I’ll summarize the historical background, which I learned from investigating the Dutch lyrics to this opening song, “Verheft het Vaandel” (“Raise the Banner” in English), by the Flemish band Gotmoor. Continue reading »

WAXING LYRICAL: PLAGUEWIELDER

 WAXING LYRICAL  No Responses »
Jul 032021
 

(In this new edition of Andy Synn‘s interview series devoted to lyrics in metal, he got input from Bryce Seditz of the Ohio band Plaguewielder.)

We – and that’s the collective we, not the royal we – have been big fans and followers of Ohio Blackened Sludge-bringers Plaguewielder for quite some time now.

You may even recall that we were lucky enough to host the premiere of their latest (and greatest) album, Covenant Death, back in March – and I can confidently say that it’s still one of my favourite albums of the year so far.

So, for this particular edition of Waxing Lyrical I/we thought it was high time we caught up with Plaguewielder vocalist/guitarist Bryce Seditz to find out exactly what it is that fuels the band’s thematic fire. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: OBSCURA, DISENTOMB, HAIL SPIRIT NOIR, DIRTY SHIRT, EMPLOYED TO SERVE, GADGET

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Jul 022021
 

 

I’m scurrying. I was all ready to launch an album premiere and review, but the provider of the stream code seems to have been swallowed by the earth. So, to fill the gap I’ve quickly pulled together a bunch of new songs I encountered this morning, most of which come with entertaining videos. I’m pretending I’m a DJ and just inserting some very brief comments before each one, and adding some release info below the clips.

OBSCURA

The tech-death arms race shows no signs of diminishing, and, with manes and drapery blowing in the wind and fingers and limbs flying at blinding speed, Obscura rejoin the melee. Minds will be boggled…. Continue reading »

GONZO’S BEST OF BRUTAL SHIT: JUNE 2021

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jul 022021
 


Photo by Jørn Steen

(Today we launch what we hope will be a long-recurring column by our contributor Gonzo in which he spotlights favorite releases from the month just ended.)

No matter how much ground we cover at NCS on a daily, weekly, and even monthly basis, there’s always some music lurking in some dark corner of the metal universe that gets overlooked somehow. Some of that is, of course, by design – we don’t typically highlight the bigger names you’ll see in larger publications; we tend to reach farther down the smoldering depths of the metal underbelly for the stuff that doesn’t get as much exposure.

Earlier this year, I tried to keep up with a New Music Friday weekly column that was, unfortunately, all too short-lived. I blame my day job, in which I also write for a living (though it’s much less satisfying than heaping profanity-laced praise upon my favorite music.)

So, given the aforementioned constraints, Islander has been kind enough to green-light my latest idea: A monthly column dedicated to the bands, songs, and albums that I want to highlight from that month, without double-dipping into territory that’s already been covered.

Enough backstory – let’s dig into what kicked ass in June (and late May, since this is post #1.). The lead band was once in a deep, dark corner, but no longer is. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VASSAGO — “ELITE OF SATAN”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Jul 012021
 

 

Twenty-two years after releasing their debut album, Knights From Hell, the infernal Swedish slaughterers in Vassago have emerged with a second full-length, aptly titled Storm of Satan. In the interval two of its members devoted their attentions to the black metal band Lord Belial, but thankfully have now revived Vassago, which represents a very different vehicle for their talents — and Andy LaRoque of King Diamond joined them on lead guitar for this new hell ride.

The album is indeed a powerfully hellish amalgam of black and death metal, utterly devoted in its lyrical themes to the evil power of Satan (whose name appears in every song title), and utterly demented in the blitzing and blistering ferocity of its attack. Today, leading up to the record’s August 1 release by NWN! Productions, we have the fiendish pleasure of premiering its second single, “Elite of Satan“, which is a true firestorm of ravaging intensity. Continue reading »

KRYPTAN: A REVIEW OF THEIR SELF-TITLED EP AND THE PREMIERE OF “A GIANT LEAP FOR WHOREDOM”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Jul 012021
 

 

The dumpster fire of the past pandemic year was wretched in countless ways, but most of us have realized that it also gave birth to a multitude of changes that were not all bad. Among other fortunate developments, the shutdowns and solitary confinements gave many experienced musicians the space to turn their talents in different directions, no longer wholly consumed by the feverishness of routines that might have marked the pre-pandemic age.

The Swedish band Kryptan represents one such new beginning. It is the brainchild of songwriter, guitarist, and keyboardist Mattias Norrman, who is best known for his work with October Tide and Katatonia. But while the music on Kryptan‘s debut album does include recognizable traces of his other more brooding and doom-directed work, it is a vehicle for channeling the passions inspired by Scandinavian black metal from the ’90s, perhaps especially the influence of such bands as Dissection, Naglfar, and Marduk.

Kryptan‘s debut EP is et for release on July 23rd by Debemur Morti Productions, and today we’re providing thoughts about all four of its tracks, and premiering one of them Continue reading »

MENTAL CRUELTY: “A HILL TO DIE UPON”

 Album Reviews  1 Response »
Jul 012021
 

 

(We present DGR’s extensive review of the new album by Germany’s Mental Cruelty, which Unique Leader released at the end of May.)

For the sake of complete transparency this one is going to begin with a minor confession; One of the driving reasons for the choice to deep-dive German group Mental Cruelty‘s newest album A Hill To Die Upon is because the idea made me laugh.

It’s no fault of the band themselves, who are in the midst of something of a soft re-branding on their latest album, having shifted further and deeper into a symphonics-assisted world after two albums of whirlwind brutalizing deathcore. It’s because around here we’re fans of the black metal group A Hill To Die Upon, and something about seeing those words – admittedly a common phrase – on an album cover with a logo gave me the fun sort of “world-inverted” dynamic that you’ll see put to use in comedy from time to time.

So, in the sort of drunken crashing around that normally determines whether I’ll glance at a band, sometimes it’s some strange coincidence, no matter how stupid or small, that manages to catch my attention. Continue reading »

SEPUTUS: “PHANTOM INDIGO”

 Album Reviews  No Responses »
Jun 302021
 

 

(Todd Manning returns to NCS with the following review of the new album by Seputus, which is out now on Willowtip Records.)

Originally the brainchild of drummer/guitarist Stephen Schwegler, Seputus has had to take a backseat to real life for far too long. The idea for the group started when he was serving in the Navy, but the growth was slow due to his commitments.

Eventually, Schwegler recruited vocalist Doug Moore and Erik Malave on bass and the project began to take flight. While they managed to release the album Man Does Not Give in 2016, Phantom Indigo, which came out on June 4th via Willowtip Records, feels like the true introduction of the trio to the Metal world at large. Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries