Islander

SKALD IN VEUM: “STRIDSLYSTEN”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Apr 152019
 

 

(In this post Andy Synn reviews the new album by the Swedish black metal band Skald In Veum, which was released on April 12th.)

Although I’m not at all religious myself, and have probably broken several key commandments in my time (I’ve definitely coveted my neighbour’s ass on a few occasions), I have to admit I’m still endlessly fascinated by those bands who manage to bring some proper Old Testament fire and brimstone to Black Metal.

After all, while these days it’s become more of a mainstream-friendly corporate conglomerate, the roots of Christianity are awash in just as much blood and dirt, and home to just as many devils and demons and strange superstitions, as any other major (or minor) religion, and the various artefacts and apocrypha left over from this period have provided fertile inspiration for both believers and unbelievers alike over the years.

All of which brings us nicely to Stridslysten, the debut album from Swedish celebrants Skald In Veum, whose particular approach is less “turn the other cheek” and more “rain of fire, pillars of salt”.

So hold onto your hats, ladies and gentlemen, it’s about to get biblical… Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SUSPIRAL — “CROWN OF CHAOS”

 Premieres  4 Responses »
Apr 152019
 

 

Two main impulses drive the music of Suspiral, and as you read what they are, they might seem incompatible.

On the one hand, they embrace chaos, unleashing terrific storms of gale-force intensity, with waves of blackened death metal slaughtering geared toward mind-rending impact. On the other, they draw influence from Kraut and drone bands such as Ash Ra Temple and Faust in a manner designed to induce trance-like immersion and the gradual accretion of aberrant psychoactive effects, reshaping the mind rather than obliterating it.

These strategies might seem incompatible, but Suspiral manage to unify them, and the experience is perhaps most stunning when they accomplish both things at the same time — as they do on the song we’re premiering today.

The track you’ll be able to stream below is “Crown of Chaos“, which opens their new album Chasm — set for release on May 10th by Sentient Ruin Laboratories in the U.S. and by Clavis Secretorvm in Europe. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): MARTELO NEGRO — “PARTHENOGENESIS”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  1 Response »
Apr 152019
 

 

On their impending third album, the Portuguese band Martelo Negro (“black hammer”) have whipped up an intoxicating but thoroughly evil musical concoction. With ingredients that range from black metal to thrash, from death metal to d-beat punk, the music is brutish and bruising, bombastic and barbaric, demented and demolishing, occult and orgiastic. By turns it’s a demolition job, a chaotic romp, a dismal plague, and a ghoulish vision of ultimate horror. It’s also catchy as hell.

That’s a lot of diverse qualities for any one band to pull together in an organic way, and Martelo Negro do it in every song, which makes the album a relentless thrill ride (and a really nasty one too). You’ll get the chance to experience it yourself right now, because we’ve got a full album stream to share. And if you’re as high on it as we are, you won’t have to wait long to pick it up, because Helldprod Records is releasing it on April 17th. Continue reading »

CULTHE FEST 2019

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Apr 152019
 

 

In just five days Culthe Fest 2019 will begin in Münster, Germany, and for the second year No Clean Singing is delighted to partner with Unaussprechliche Culthe in helping to spread the word.

This is a two-day event, with performances on April 20 and April 21, and it features a remarkable line-up of bands from the realms of black metal, death metal, post-metal, and dark folk, plus an art exhibition (with works by Jeff Grimal, Irrwisch, and Carmen Alba), a panel discussion with Ernie of Krachmucker TV, and nightly after-shows.

The headlining bands are tremendous: Panopticon (performing in Germany for the first time), Sulphur Aeon, and Dornenreich (performing mostly songs from Hexenwind and Her von welken Nächten). But the rest of the line-up is also enormously appealing. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: DEUS MORTEM, MISOTHEIST, FRIISK, SÜHNOPFER, UNGFELL, ABBATH

 SHADES OF BLACK  5 Responses »
Apr 142019
 

 

(Our Norwegian friend eiterorm takes over the SHADES OF BLACK column today while our usual columnist (me) is otherwise preoccupied.)

Islander is overwhelmed with work this weekend and won’t have time to compile the usual Shades of Black. But Shades of Black is the highlight of any casual Sunday, so this time yours truly is compiling the list instead.

DEUS MORTEM

The Polish black metal band Deus Mortem was last featured on No Clean Singing in 2016, with their excellent EP Demons of Matter and the Shells of the Dead. This year, they will be back with their second full-length release, titled Kosmocide. In fact, the release – which will be carried out by Terratur Possessions and Malignant Voices – is only two weeks away (April 28 marks the date), so prepare yourselves for imminent inflammation. Continue reading »

DARKENED NOCTURN SLAUGHTERCULT: “MARDOM”

 Album Reviews  8 Responses »
Apr 122019
 

 

(This is Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by the German black metal band Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult.)

The name Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult is one of those monikers that, once you’ve heard it, you’re unlikely to ever forget.

Unfortunately it’s been my experience that, even amongst the Black Metal faithful, the band’s name is somehow still more famous than their music.

Thankfully, with the release of their sixth album (which comes out today on War Anthem Records) I’m hopeful that this might just be about to change, as Mardom is not only a fantastic continuation of their already impressive legacy, and a near-perfect jumping-on point for new fans, it’s also one of the best Black Metal albums I’ve heard so far this year. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SACRED SIN — “FIRE THRONE”

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Apr 122019
 

 

The Portuguese band Sacred Sin released their first demo in 1991, qualifying them as one of the country’s earliest practitioners of metallic extremity. Their debut album Darkside, released in 1993, began a sequence of five albums in which the first letters of the titles spelled out the word “Death”. The last of those, Hekaton – The Return To Primordial Chaos, come out in 2003. And then a long hiatus followed before the band resurrected themselves and released 2017’s Grotesque Destructo Art — which is their most recent album to date.

It’s fair to say that the sound of Sacred Sin has varied over time, with death metal being the core but with changing integrations of elements from other sub-genres. The band’s third album, Anguish​.​.​. I Harvest, is especially difficult to pigeon-hole in genre terms — and it might be the band’s best and most distinctive album of all.

Originally released in 1999, Anguish​.​.​. I Harvest will be reissued on April 19th by two Ukrainian labels — GrimmDistribution and Envenomed Music — in a special remastered edition that also includes six bonus tracks from a 1997 rehearsal demo, and today we’re premiering one of the remastered tracks, a song named “Fire Throne“. Continue reading »

ALLEGAEON: “APOPTOSIS”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Apr 122019
 

 

(This is TheMadIsraeli’s review of the new album by the Colorado melodic death metal band Allegaeon, set for release on April 19 by Metal Blade Records.)

Ever since I first wrote about them back in 2011, Allegaeon have proven themselves to be America’s best argument for the continent’s viability in the melodic death metal space since The Absence.  They have shown consistency, growth, and a level of sophistication that’s rare, even if that growth and willingness to expand their sound in multiple directions have resulted in a discography that doesn’t hit everybody the same way from album to album.

I’ve really enjoyed the more consistent sound this band have been dialing in, though, since Elements Of The Infinite (funnily enough, the last Allegaeon album I personally reviewed here), where they’re trying to hit this interesting note that sits somewhere between Soilwork, Nevermore, and Dream Theater while incorporating some other more bombastic straight-forward death metal elements into things.  Suffice it to say, I like all Allegaeon, but I’ve found myself liking this incarnation of the band the best by far. Continue reading »

HATH: “OF ROT AND RUIN”

 Album Reviews  5 Responses »
Apr 112019
 

 

(Here’s Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by New Jersey’s Hath, which will be released on April 12th by Willowtip Records.)

You know what I think? I think the whole Europe vs the USA “rivalry” (for want of a better word) in the Metal scene never really went away, we just all agreed, implicitly at least, to stop talking about it as much.

Of course I’m not suggesting that there’s some huge, unbridgeable divide between the two sides of the Atlantic, or that the scions of “European” and “American” Metal are some sort of monolith, but there’s still certain unconscious beliefs and biases at play, subtly encouraging you to “root for the home team”, even now.

Heck, I can think of several examples off the top of my head where some of my US colleagues have been full of praise for a specific band or album, when all I can think is “but this just sounds like early Emperor” or “these are just a bunch of leftover At The Gates riffs”… and I’m sure the exact same sort of thing has occurred the other way around when I’ve been pushing a band from this side of the pond which they simply don’t see as being a particularly big deal.

All this is, I suppose, a long-winded way of saying that if you’ve been looking for the American version of Slugdge… well, Of Rot and Ruin has got you covered, bro. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SACRILEGIA — “THE TRICLAVIAN ADVENT”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Apr 112019
 

 

It seems like only yesterday (because it was only yesterday) that I was praising a thrash band (Inculter) who stand well out from a larger pack of modern thrash practitioners whose music tends to be quickly forgettable and easily interchangeable, and now I’m about to do that again — though Sacrilegia stand out in a different way.

While Inculter are an example of a group who had already blazed a path across the skies and are soaring higher with their new second album, Sacrilegia are making their first appearance, and what an explosive appearance it is: Their debut release, The Triclavian Advent, goes off like a Bouncing Betty landmine you’ve just unwittingly triggered, ejected into the air and then detonating with lethal results. Continue reading »

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