(Andy Synn interviews D.F., master of guitars and synthesizers for Germany’s Stellar Master Elite. To read Andy’s reviews of all the band’s albums, including their new 2015 release, go here.)
So let’s start this interview off with a simple question… how are you, and what are you up to at this precise moment?
DF: Writing this interview with the damn flu while listening to Boards of Canada. Could be worse! Continue reading »
In the near term, the forecast for our site is cloudy. Early this morning I left Seattle for Alaska again, where I’ll be spending the next 10 days on a project for my fucking day job. Like most of these out-of-town adventures, I’ll be working day and night and unable to spend much time on NCS.
I do expect I’ll have enough time to post what our other writers send me, and maybe time to write a few things myself (such as one post I’ve planned for tomorrow). Things should get back to normal during the week of November 16, but until then the volume of our daily posts will probably decline.
But the forecast gets brighter after the next 10 days. Continue reading »
Affliction is the title of the debut EP by a Scottish trio named Caecus. You listen to the music, and it seems born of affliction, and it expresses affliction — among other powerful emotions. It will take you less than 10 minutes to hear the three unnamed songs on the EP from start to finish, but it’s still an all-consuming experience.
If you’re like me, the first thing you’ll want to do at the end, while your head is still spinning, is go back to the beginning and launch it again so you can try to understand better what just happened to you. Continue reading »
photo © Ony
(Comrade Aleks brings us another interview, this time with Julien Rour Chanut, guitarist of the French band Hangman’s Chair.)
This is one of the most nihilistic, dirty, and desperate doom outfits from France. Hangman’s Chair was born in 2005 and proved their skills with three full-length albums until now. These are hymns of outcasts, confessions of the addicted, a portrayal of crude reality from the backyard of a city’s daily life.
The reason for this interview with Julien Rour Chanut, the band’s guitarist, is the release of Hangman’s Chair’s new album This Is Not Supposed To Be Positive on Musicfearsatan Records. Another murky reflection in a cracked mirror of our lives… Another expressive art-work, another handful of depressive and realistic tunes from the underground of suburban Paris. Continue reading »
(Andy Synn reviews the new album by Norway’s Kampfar.)
Earlier this year I was lucky enough to witness a show-stealing, career-defining performance by Norwegian legends-in-waiting Kampfar, when they stepped out onto the main stage at Inferno Festival and proceeded to deliver a masterclass in true Black Metal power and spirit, ultimately describing their set as one which “will be spoken of for years to come”. And I still stand by that.
Calling the band “legends-in-waiting” is meant as no disservice to them, however. It’s rather an acknowledgement that although the quartet have long since achieved legendary status in certain circles, their wider acclaim has yet to reach the level which should be theirs by right.
Yet, by the same token, it’s startling to realise that now, 20 years into their career, Kampfar are in the midst of an ongoing (and seemingly unstoppable) creative and critical renaissance, which began with 2011’s riveting Mare, continuing through last year’s ravenous Djevelmakt, and leading us, in turn, to Profan, their latest slab of sharp-toothed metallic menace. Continue reading »
Last year I reviewed an impressive first demo by a mysterious hooded group from Sjælland, Denmark, named Serpents Lair. Now the band have completed their debut full-length, a seven-track, 43-minute album entitled Circumambulating the Stillborn that becomes available for download and physical pre-order today. In this post you’ll have a chance to stream the entire album for the first time. And if you’d like a preview of what you’re getting yourselves into, read on.
Following an introductory track consisting of beautiful choral voices and the slow, muffled pounding of timpani, Serpents Lair deliver five mostly long songs and an instrumental interlude. The songs are richly textured, dynamic in their pacing, and wholly unsettling. Continue reading »
(Wil Cifer reviews the new album by Finland’s Hooded Menace.)
By my lights, 2015 hasn’t been a big year for doom. Doom releases have been sparse, and when I say doom I am not talking retro stoner crap, but something that crushes your spirit in a mournful manner. I am pleased to say that the Finnish Doom merchants of Hooded Menace continue to bring it.
They come from the more deathly school of doom but their riffs still weep blood, so the death metal influence doesn’t bother me here. Speaking of weep, most bands would bore you to tears with a twelve-minute opener, but these guys suspend time and keep you in the moment. They are not afraid of picking up the pace without losing their grasp of darkness by going into a stoner rock boogie. Even when indulging in weird breakdowns they maintain their momentum. Continue reading »
Descendent the Black Throne is the name of the second album by the Chilean black metal band Invocation Spells. It’s set for release next month by the mighty Hells Headbangers, and today we’re presenting a stream of the album’s ripping title track.
South American black metal tends to mix savagery with speed, and Invocation Spells deliver that experience in spades. “Descendent the Black Throne” is a galloping romp of speed metal riffs and gut-punching percussion trailing clouds of sulfurous smoke in its wake, capped by venomous vocals nasty enough to wake demons from their slumber. Continue reading »
(In this post Grant Skelton reviews the new album by India’s Bevar Sea.)
Bevar Sea are from Bangalore, Karnataka, in India. They formed in 2010 and the following year released two demos (Trendslaughter Sessions and Sessions Of Chaos). Those demos, which included covers of Kyuss, Sleep, and Black Sabbath, saw the band gain a following among doom fans worldwide. In 2012 the band recorded an album with Billy Anderson, whose more recent work includes Pallbearer’s Foundations Of Burden and Agalloch’s The Serpent & The Sphere.
Bevar Sea’s self-titled 2012 release led their popularity to spread even further as they played shows with Anathema and Kreator. In 2013 Rolling Stone India awarded Bevar Sea the title of “Best Emerging Band.” Continue reading »
(Our friend Vonlughlio returns with his second review in as many days, this time singing the praises of the debut album by Iniquitous Deeds.)
Back in 2012 or 2013 when I discovered New Standard Elite, there was a band named on the label named Iniquitous Deeds, with a self-titled EP that displayed amazing musicianship and a killer production that fit well in the BDM genre. Now, flash-forward to 2015 and the release of their debut album Incessant Hallucinations, which saw the light a couple of months ago. With all the BDM releases I’ve been fortunate enough to hear, this album is one of my top choices in the genre.
The band are from California and the members are Matt Kilner (Drums), Niko Kalajakis (Guitars), Mike Simon (Vocals), and Chris Stratton (Bass). They are all top-notch musicians and have simply put out an album that has become one of my favorite debuts, along with Abhorrent Castigation’s from last year. Continue reading »