CAN MARYLAND DEATHFEST 2014 GET ANY BETTER? YES, IT JUST DID.

 Metal News  10 Responses »
Nov 222013
 

Even before today, next year’s edition of the Maryland Deathfest had already been shaping up as a truly stunning festival. But about an hour ago MDF announced a slew of additional confirmed appearances that further increase the stun power — and they’re still not finished. Check out the list of bands announced today:

DARK ANGEL (One of only a few US shows)

TRIPTYKON (Switzerland) – (Exclusive US appearance)

INQUISITION

CRIPPLE BASTARDS (Italy)

ANTISECT (UK)

SOURVEIN

LEFT FOR DEAD (Canada) Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: KAMPFAR, ADVENT SORROW, THEATRE NOCTURNE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Nov 222013
 

For reasons I won’t bore you with, over the last 24 hours I haven’t been able to devote my usual efforts to scouring the world of metal for new sightings and hearings. However, with a little help via links from friends, I did compile the following brief round-up of items that are very much worth mentioning.

KAMPFAR

The first item is at the top of this post. It’s the cover, released today, for the next album by Kampfar — Djevelmakt, which appears to mean “devilpower” in Norwegian. This is noteworthy for two reasons: First, because Kampfar chose a painting by the masterful Zdzisław Beksiński for the cover art. And second, because Kampfar is an excellent band, and whatever they do next will be worth hearing.  Continue reading »

littledidweknow SIGNS WITH SUBLIMINAL GROOVE RECORDS, RELEASES NEW SINGLE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  9 Responses »
Nov 222013
 

(NCS contributor Austin Weber brings us news of a new label signing and a new single from littledidweknow.)

A few months back I wrote here at NCS about a talented local group from my hometown of Louisville, KY, called littledidweknow. At the time, they had just released their lengthy spectacular debut called Lucid Happenings. Now a few months later, and Subliminal Groove Records just announced that they have signed littledidweknow.

A guitar playthrough for a new song called “Permagrin” was released to accompany this signing announcement. This song gives us more of their chopped-up presentation of metal, both technical and brutal, and quite groovy with piercing death metal outbursts spiraling out of control while erupting with vicious vocal assaults and some excellent tapping- and shred-accompanied breakdowns: Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: TOWERS OF FLESH, I EXIST, PUTREFACT, ALTAR OF BETELGEUZE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Nov 212013
 

Yesterday I came across new music from four bands with whom I hadn’t previously crossed paths. I really liked what I heard and hope you will, too. Part of what makes this quartet so appealing is that none of them sounds like any of the others, and together they give us another reminder about the amazing diversity of metal as an art form.

TOWERS OF FLESH

Towers of Flesh are a three-man band from the UK who released their debut album in 2010 (The Perpetual Paradox). All three of the band members (Anil Carrier, Tom Hinksman, and Jack Welch) have been active in other projects, but they have now managed to complete a new album entitled Antithetical Conjurations, which is projected for release in early 2014. It’s adorned by an eye-catching cover panting by Aisha Louisa Al-Sadie (edited by Bryan Hancox).

Yesterday the band released a sampler of music from the new album. I didn’t know what to expect, since I hadn’t heard their first album, but man, the sampler sounds excellent — a blend of of melodic black metal and death metal elements with dark, reverberating guitar melodies that are attention-grabbing even after only a few seconds, and plenty of low-end thunder. Continue reading »

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US

 Birthday Posts, Metal News  72 Responses »
Nov 212013
 

Guess what? NO CLEAN SINGING is four years old today. That’s right, we made our first post on November 21, 2009. There’s a word for metal blogs who are still around after four years. They’re called “survivors”. “Stubborn” and “too dumb to quit” would be alternative descriptions. Many other metal blogs who started around the same time we did (or even later) are no longer with us. We’re still very happy to be here.

My two original co-founders fell by the wayside long ago (though rumor has it, one may be making a guest appearance in the near future). In their place I’ve been very lucky  to work with the four dudes who have helped keep the site going and growing over the last two or three years. For the hell of it, I went back and identified their first appearances at NCS.

Andy Synn’s first post was a review of Dimmu Borgir’s Abrahadabra on September 23, 2010. BadWolf’s first post came on November 15, 2010 — a review of Terraphobic by Dagon. TheMadIsraeli made his debut with a review of The Interbeing’s debut album Edge of the Obscure, published on May 11, 2011. And DGR’s first post was a series of year-end lists on December 28, 2011. I’m proud to call all of them friends as well as colleagues, and I’m so grateful they’ve hung in there with me. Continue reading »

WRECKAGE IN 2014: MITOCHONDRION, AUROCH, BÖLZER, WOODS OF DESOLATION, OBSCURE BURIAL

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Nov 202013
 

This is really just another “Seen and Heard” post, but something about this collection of things I noticed over the last 24 hours put the image of “wreckage” in my mind. You’ll see why. And all of the items concern 2014 releases.

MITOCHONDRION AND AUROCH

I saw that Hellthrasher Productions is going to release a 7″ split by two Vancouver wrecking machines who are favorites of this site, Mitochondrion and Auroch. It is described “a conceptual song divided in two halves, with one title and one set of lyrics”, and it’s expected in early 2014. Both of these bands are at work on new full-length albums for Profound Lore, which will be on our highly-anticipated list for next year — and so will this split. Artwork and further details will be forthcoming.

BÖLZER

This next item consists of relatively recent updates that I just noticed concerning the titanic black/death entity from Switzerland known as Bölzer. First, they will have a new three-song EP entitled Soma released by Invictus Productions in 2014 (and yes, that also goes on our highly-anticipated list of 2014 releases). This is expected to be a fitting complement to the band’s stunning 2013 EP, Aura. Second, they will be performing at next year’s Maryland Deathfest. And third, the band’s 2012 demo Roman Acupuncture, which was originally released on hard-to-find tape, is going to be issued on vinyl next year by Iron Bonehead Productions. Continue reading »

DEMILICH: “20TH ADVERSARY OF EMPTINESS”

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  22 Responses »
Nov 202013
 

One of the most enjoyable things I’ve ever done at NCS was the “FINLAND TRIBUTE WEEK” series back at the end of 2010. It was completely unplanned, beginning on December 1 with a post about Amorphis and then continuing on a daily basis through this post on December 17, fueled by a flood of reader suggestions (most of which are collected here). I discovered so damn much great music across a wide spectrum of metal sub-genres (it was, for example, my first introduction to funeral doom) and learned a lot about the history of Finnish metal as well.

One of the great discoveries I made through that impromptu series was Demilich, a ground-breaking band whose first and last full-length album was 1993’s Nespithe. In my Finland Tribute Week post about Demilich, I provided a lot of info about the band and about Nespithe. I won’t repeat that here, but instead send you back to that post for an explanation about why the album — from its head-spinning music to its coded lyrics and album title — is so damned interesting.

Demilich’s Antti Boman has kept the Demilich flame burning by maintaining a web site for many years on which almost all of Demilich’s recorded output is available for free download (here). But now something else is coming that will send the flames higher, and its name is Demilich: 20th Adversary of Emptiness. Continue reading »

HELP A BROTHER OUT! (A REQUEST FOR GUEST POSTS)

 Metal News  17 Responses »
Nov 202013
 

Yeah, I know, it seems like I was begging for help only last week, but here I am doing it again. I mean, fuck, it worked out so well last week that I’m feeling lucky and rolling the dice again.

Veteran readers of the site will remember that once upon a time I used to take one long vacation every November. And every time I took a vacation, I would beg for guest posts to keep things going. That hasn’t happened in two years, but it’s finally about to happen again — as in Monday of next week (Nov 25). Yes, I’ll be winging my way to the land of milk and honey and will not be returning to the land of rain and mold until December 8. And while I’m away, I won’t be churning out posts with the same maniacal frenzy to which you’ve become accustomed.

Our other regular writers are dedicated, they are tireless, and most importantly they work for free. But it’s too much to ask them to shoulder the burden on their own narrow shoulders alone. Actually, it’s not too much to ask, but they would most likely tell me to go fuck myself. So I’m asking our dedicated, tireless, and uncompensated readers to help them fill the void.

So here’s the deal: If you’ve ever toyed with the idea of writing something for publication at NCS or some other metal blog, now’s a good time to give it a shot. Or maybe you’ve been generous enough to submit guest posts here in the past and might be willing to do it again. Details about this stunning opportunity to do my work for me, free of charge, are after the jump . . .

Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT: AN UPDATE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, THE SYNN REPORT  7 Responses »
Nov 192013
 

(In this post, Andy Synn provides updates about five bands who have been the subject of past SYNN REPORTS (and one “proto Synn Report”): Martriden, Astarte, Anata, V.A.S.T., and Persefone.)

Wow, it’s been almost two months since the last edition of The Synn Report! Where does the time go?

In the intervening time I’ve been very busy, both with work, band stuff, and my personal life (yes, I do have one outside the site… erm, kind of…), and simply haven’t had chance to settle down and get to work on things in the more in-depth way that The Synn Report requires of me!

Don’t worry though, a new edition, with an all-new band, is on its way. In the meantime, I thought we might as well check in with a few updates from those bands we’ve featured here in the past. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: SUNN O))), ULVER, TEMPEL, NUFUTIC, and DEMONICAL

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Nov 182013
 

It’s been an action-packed day here at NCS, with some ass to mouth plus three album reviews and two song premieres — and I had two more reviews ready to go, but I’ve deferred those until tomorrow so that we don’t overdose you with awesomenessness. But at the risk of giving you a manic sugar high, I thought I’d round up some of the best things I saw and heard today. We’ll begin with a couple of announcements and end with a new song and a new video

SUNN O))) and ULVER

One week ago I reported about a cryptic announcement by Southern Lord that seemed to suggest a long-rumored collaboration between Sunn O))) and Ulver was about to become a consumable reality. Today we got a more informative announcement, i.e., that these two storied bands have indeed collaborated to create a three-track recording entitled Terrestrials — “a trio of movements which flow like magma beneath the Earth’s crust, sonically uninhibited, unpredictably cosmic, haunting and stirring, yet simultaneously ceremonious and beautiful.”

Southern Lord will be releasing Terrestrials in February 2014, the cover can be seen above, and we are promised that over the course of the next month details shall be dribbled out concerning “the story of how this alliance and recording came to be.” Continue reading »

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