AFTER AN EIGHT-YEAR WAIT, EXTOL “OPEN THE GATES”

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
Apr 232013
 

Today Norway’s Extol released their first new music in more than eight years. The single “Open the Gates” appears on the band’s self-titled fifth album, which will be released by Indie Recordings on June 21 in Norway, Germany, and Austria, and on June 24 everywhere else in Europe, and by Facedown Records on June 25 in North America. Pre-orders in a variety of formats and bundles can now be placed here. Today the band also unveiled the album’s cover art, shown above, by the renowned Travis Smith.

For fans of this band, the wait has been a long one. In 2007, after six studio-releases, a Norwegian Grammy award nomination, worldwide touring with bands such as Mastodon and Opeth, critical praise, and the amassing of devoted legions of fans across the globe, Extol seemingly disappeared without any explanation. Cryptic hints began appearing in 2012 on an unheralded web site which suggested that a film might be in the works — and indeed, it turns out that a documentary film about Extol is indeed in production. And then it became clear that the band was working on new music. (To find out more about all these events, check out our October 2012 interview with Extol’s Peter Espevoll at this location).

We probably have some readers who weren’t even listening to metal during Extol’s hey-day. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the band, check out Andy Synn’s January 2011 SYNN REPORT on Extol, which includes a review of their entire discography plus sample songs. You can find that via this link.

But enough with the background . . . let’s move on to “Open the Gates”. Continue reading »

A BAND CONTEST WITH A VERY NICE PRIZE (FREE ALBUM ART BY SAM NELSON)

 Metal News  3 Responses »
Apr 232013
 

I know that most of our readers don’t spend time on Facebook (or at least most of you didn’t the last time we ran a readers’ poll to find out such things), but for those of you who do, you probably know that every afternoon here in the Pacific Northwest I post a piece of artwork or a photo on the NCS Facebook page. Most of the artwork is surreal or dark, and sometimes I also post artwork by metal album artists whose creations I like.

One of those artists, whose work I’ve also frequently featured here at the main NCS site, is Sam Nelson (“Stigma”). You’re looking at one of his new pieces at the top of this post, which has rapidly become one of my favorites among the things he’s done.

Not long ago, Stigma started a contest for bands, and it’s about time I said something about it. It’s a cool idea, and one that I hope other artists might pick up on. Here’s the message from his Facebook page: Continue reading »

HOWL, HUMILIATION, AND HYBRID

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Apr 222013
 

There’s a theme to this post. Can you guess what it is?

HOWL

I’m so far behind in listening to new albums that I’ve given up home of ever catching up. The new one named Bloodlines from Howl is one I really want to hear. But so far all I’ve heard are two tracks, both of which are publicly streaming. I thought today would be a good day to mention them because today I saw the complete album art for Bloodlines. Kicks ass, don’t it?

The two tracks you can hear at moment are “Your Hell Begins”, which premiered at Loudwire but is now on Soundcloud, and “Attrition”, which is now on YouTube and Bandcamp. The former is a diseased death/doom juggernaut that will throw you for a loop before it finishes, and the latter (also diseased) is an up-tempo number that jabs like a prize-fighter, but with a lot of sludgy, low-end weight. I like both of them. Continue reading »

MISFORTUNE

 Metal News  4 Responses »
Apr 222013
 

My NCS comrades and I follow a large number of bands and labels on Facebook and through other news outlets. Not a week goes by without seeing a report of some new misfortune befalling one or more of them. During some weeks it’s a daily occurrence. Many of the misfortunes involve van break-downs or vehicular accidents while on tour. Others involve theft of gear or money. Sometimes, as you’ll see below, even the weather gods get involved.

The past week saw a string of calamities affecting bands we like quite a lot around here. They’ve all reached out to fans for financial support. This is not exactly a sure-fire means of getting back on your feet, because the average metal fan isn’t exactly swimming in free cash, but what else are you going to do?

We could easily make this a weekly feature: bands who’ve been fucked by human scum or fisted by the fickle hand of fate and who need help. I’m not saying we’re going to do that, but we’re doing it today. Here are stories and appeals for help from A Hill To Die Upon (Illinois), Jeff Loomis (Washington), and Eyeconoclast (Italy). Continue reading »

A SUNDAY SERVING OF SOUNDS: ALRAUNE, HAUST, AND QUEST OF AIDANCE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Apr 212013
 

Happy Sunday, motherfuckers (and I mean that in the most affectionate possible way). My ass is dragging this morning because (duh!) last night was Saturday night. I won’t go into detail about what I did, but it was the kind of activity that produces Sunday morning ass-dragging. Still, I found time while attempting to kick my ass-gear out of idle to listen to a scattering of new music, some of which I’d like to share with you now.

ALRAUNE

Allow me to introduce you to Alraune. They are from Nashville, but there ain’t no country in their music. There is, instead, a whole lot of napalm, poison, razor blades, heavy drum artillery, and truckloads of musical talent. They’ve put a two-song album preview up on Bandcamp. The songs are named “Exordium” and “Kissed By the Red”. They’re both about 8 minutes long. I love them both.

“Exordium” is a black metal blast furnace — a strong, hot wind of hell-ripping guitars, off-the-hook drumming, and throat-ruining shrieks — and as added bonuses, it includes not only an ass-kicking black ‘n’ roll break and but also very cool melodic lines that slither through the music like snakes. Continue reading »

A NEW FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE ALBUM IS PROJECTED FOR RELEASE THIS AUGUST!

 Metal News  4 Responses »
Apr 192013
 

This is such good news. According to a secret coded message delivered unto us by the NCS carrier pigeon aeronauts, those Italian stallions in Fleshgod Apocalypse are currently working on their third full-length album with producer Stefano Morabito at 16th Cellar Studio — and it’s tentatively scheduled for release by Nuclear Blast in August 2013. There’s no title yet, but the message included this commentary by guitarist/vocalist Tommaso Riccardi:

“The concept of this album is based on the myth of the Labyrinth of Knossos and every character related to it. We focused on the philological aspect in order to represent all the elements of the classic world and, through a manic and meticulous research, we managed to create a  metaphor with our times, as the maze can be associated with the endless search for what we really are. We’re sure you will be stunned by this as much as we are.”

That sounds intriguing. And so do these quotes from Tommaso’s bandmates: Continue reading »

AUTOPSY: “THE HEADLESS RITUAL” IS COMING

 Metal News  9 Responses »
Apr 192013
 

I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw the artwork up above sitting in my e-mail in-box. I’m surprised it didn’t scare my e-mail program into a state of catatonic non-functionality. It was created by Joe Petagno (Motörhead, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin) and it graces the new album by the legendary Autopsy, The Headless Ritual.

In addition to unveiling that eye-catching piece of grisliness, the band also announced today that the album will be released on July 2 via Peaceville Records. The press release I got also included this quote by drummer/vocalist Chris Reifert:

“Expect nothing less than the monstrous brutality that Autopsy has been known to offer. Laurels will not be rested upon, trends will not be followed and mercy will not be shown. Mark your calendars for June and pick out a coffin to lie down and die in. Darkness and death await…”

Fuck yes. Have a look at the track list after the jump.

Continue reading »

THE NORTHERN DARKNESS FESTIVAL 2013: CAN SOMEONE GIVE ME A RIDE TO NORTHUMBRIA?

 Metal News  3 Responses »
Apr 172013
 

Damn, this caught me off guard. As announced yesterday (but not yet with much fanfare): On December 8, 2013, at an institution of higher learning named Northumbria University in the town of Newcastle on Tyne in England, a tremendous line-up of metal bands will be performing on two stages. The event is named The Northern Darkness Extreme Music Festival 2013, which is a good name, because it’s definitely northern and it will most likely be dark there in December . . . and the bands are pretty damned dark, too. Check this line-up, which isn’t even complete yet:

Napalm Death (UK)
Graveworm (Italy)
Ragnarok (Norway)
Enthroned (Belgium)
Melechesh (Jerusalem)
Unfathomable Ruination (UK)
Hour of Penance (Italy)
Primitive Graven Image (UK)
Dyscarnate (UK)
Xerath (UK)

I’ve heard of Newcastle Brown Ale, but being a halfwit from Seattle I had no idea where Newcastle on Tyne was located, so I looked it up. It’s way the hell up in the northeast of England, about eight miles from the North Sea and not far from the Scottish border. Did you know that Venom came from Newcastle? Continue reading »

A TASTE OF DEAFHEAVEN’S NEW ALBUM: “SUNBATHER”

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Apr 162013
 

I don’t know if it’s ever been right to call deafheaven a black metal band. They’ve always worn their hearts on their sleeves, and although their music can be searing, it may not be quite vicious enough to warrant the label. But I don’t spend a lot of time wrangling over the right label to apply — I’ve just always really liked the music. And I’m really looking forward to their next album, Sunbather, which is coming on June 11, 2013 from Deathwish Inc.

Today brings us a taste of the music via a studio video that includes samples of different songs while guitarist Kerry McCoy, vocalist George Clarke, and new drummer Daniel Tracy track their stuff. I do like what I hear.

Check out the video below, and if you’re moved to explore further, you can find George Clarke’s detailed thoughts about the meaning behind each of the album’s songs at this location. Continue reading »

BLAKE JUDD SAYS NACHTMYSTIUM IS NOT DEAD; NEW ALBUM TO BE RELEASED IN 2013

 Metal News  7 Responses »
Apr 162013
 

Yesterday I reported that Chicago’s Nachtmystium had called it quits, deciding to go on hiatus for the foreseeable future after parting ways with its longtime lead guitarist Andrew Markuszewski and recording engineer/synth player Sanford Parker. My post was picked up by a lot of other on-line metal outlets. It appears I was wrong. This morning, Blabbermouth reported that Blake Judd had posted the following statement on his personal Facebook page:

“Apparently, some metal news sites have reported today that NACHTMYSTIUM has either ‘broken up’ or is on ‘indefinite hiatus’. Neither of these things are true. The band has gone through some personnel changes in the last few months and I’ve made the decision to cancel all of our summer tour / festival plans while the band regroups. Instead of touring, we will be writing and recording our next full-length album in the coming months, to be released on Century Media worldwide sometime in late 2013. Also, we have pulled our Facebook page offline to revise and update it (giving it a full overhaul with new photos from the past and the present, scans of interviews from magazines throughout the band’s 13 years of existence, etc.) … For the last time and for the record, NACHTMYSTIUM has NOT disbanded and is only on a hiatus in regards to playing shows.“

I make it a point not to report rumors on this site; we’re not into gossip or band drama. I based what I wrote yesterday on a statement Blake Judd had made to Stereogum in March (saying that Nachtmystium was “on somewhat of a hiatus for the time being”), on an “official statement” from the band that appeared on the Facebook page of the Belgian metal festival Metal Méan (stating that “The remaining three bandmembers of NACHTMYSTIUM as of today are going to bring the band to a state of hiatus”), on the fact that Nachtmystium had pulled out of a number of European festivals and other concert appearances scheduled for this summer, and on the fact that Nachtmystium’s Facebook page had disappeared without explanation. Continue reading »

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