NEWZ ROUND-UP: ALL SHALL PERISH, OBLIVION, CYNIC, MISERY INDEX, AND CONVULSE

 Metal News  2 Responses »
Dec 122012
 

This has proven to be an interesting morning for news. Here’s what I saw that made an impression. There’s some music at the end, too.

ALL SHALL PERISH –> OBLIVION

All Shall Perish were one of the originators of the deathcore genre, and in this writer’s humble opinion they remain one of the best bands to be found in that now-thoroughly-saturated space. This morning, All Shall Perish guitarist Ben Orum announced that he is leaving the band. As he explained in a statement I saw on Facebook, his responsibilities to his family have made it too difficult for him to continue touring.

But although he is withdrawing from All Shall Perish, Orum further announced that he is joining a band of whom we at NCS have become quite fond: Oblivion. The connection that led to this new partnership is an interesting one. As Ben Orum explained in his statement:

While I am done with touring, I will never stop writing music. I am joining the extreme metal band OBLIVION as a bassist and contributing songwriter. OBLIVION’s debut album will be released on January 1st, 2013. We are beyond excited to unleash it onto the metal world. I’ve always been into death metal and extreme music, this is my return to TRUE Death Metal. What makes OBLIVION unique and sets us apart from the pack is the fact that our primary songwriter is a world-renown classical composer and professor of music, Dr. Nick Vasallo. His voice gives the music a subtle refinement with the craftsmanship of the compositions. Continue reading »

ROTTING CHRIST: THE LATEST WORD ON “ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ”

 Metal News  13 Responses »
Dec 112012
 

We’re getting close enough to the end of the year that we’re beginning to have a good idea about at least some of the 2013 albums that belong on a Highly Anticipated list.  Near the top of my list will be the new album from Rotting Christ. Which means, of course, that every time I get even the smallest morsel of news about the album, it will go straight into an NCS post. And so, I have this news, hot off the presses:

The album will be named ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ (“Do What Thou Wilt”), and it has been scheduled for a March 5th release in North America by Season of Mist. It will be available as a CD, a double gate-fold LP, and a limited edition Digibox that includes a pendant in a velvet bag, a flag, and a Digipak CD with the bonus track “Welcome to Hel”.

Frontman Sakis Tolis has further revealed in a recent interview that he has been working on the album for more than a year, and that it was recorded in Athens and mixed in Sweden by Jens Bogren (Amon Amarth, Opeth, Katatonia). He also said this: “I came up with our darkest outcome ever… It’s an interesting album, very apocryphal. It’s a multinational album; it is about underworld Gods inspired by different ancient cultures.”

Sakis’ statement seems borne out by the variety of names and languages reflected in the track list: Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: DEAFHEAVEN, NECROCURSE, CREST OF DARKNESS, AND DEATH I AM

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Dec 112012
 

Here’s a round-up of things that caught my eyes and ears today. Eventually, they will let go and I will be able to see and hear again. The first thing is a news item about a band I like a lot. The other three items involve deviant musical filth of the supremely headbangable variety, which of course I also like a lot.

DEAFHEAVEN

I admit it: I’m intensely devoted to the music of San Francisco’s Deafheaven. The last time I wrote about them was in this review of their superb recent split with Bosse-de-Nage.  Today I received a press release stating that they have reserved studio time in January for the recording of their second full-length album, which will be entitled Sunbather and is projected for a Spring 2013 release by Deathwish Inc. They’re sticking with the same engineer (Jack Shirley) who worked with them on the debut album, Roads To Judah.

I was intrigued, though made nervous, by the included quote from Deafheaven vocalist George Clarke: “While the new material is more developed, we’ve strayed from what was previously a more melancholic approach. The black metal aspect to our music is prevalent in the new material, but I don’t think it’s necessarily the focus this time around.”  Lead guitarist Kerry McCoy continued, “There are a lot of harsh, dark vibes on Sunbather, but don’t be surprised at how lush and rock-driven, even pop-driven certain aspects will be.”

It’s pointless to begin forming impressions about music you haven’t heard, but I repeat: The term “pop-driven” makes me nervous. To calm my nerves, I decided to get filthy. Continue reading »

FIST BUMPS FOR RIVERS OF NIHIL

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Dec 102012
 

We were first introduced to Pennsylvania’s Rivers of Nihil by NCS guest writer The Baby Killer (who still needs to stick his head back in our lair). The focus of his post back in January was not only the band’s ripping recorded music but also their ability to play a fire-breathing brand of technical death metal with immaculate skill on stage, stirring the shit out of the pit while delivering spot-on execution of their complex music. More recently, we featured the band’s official music video for an ass-blasting song called “(sin)chronos”, which appeared on their 2011 EP, Temporality Unbound.

Today, we learned the happy news that Rivers of Nihil are now signed to Metal Blade Records and will be recording their full-length debut for the label with Erik Rutan (Hate Eternal) at Mana Recording Studios next March. And today we also got a demo version of a new song that will appear on the album — “Rain Eater”.

I had the volume on my computer turned up a tad too loud when I started streaming “Rain Eater”, and I think it blew some of my brains out my nose. I lost a little blood out of my eyes, too. It’s a roaring blaze of tech-savvy death metal with a flurry of progressive guitar and bass flourishes (and yes, I’m still a sucker for the prominence the bass enjoys in this band). Very nice.

Check out the new song after the jump, after you check your volume controls. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: MORS PRINCIPIUM EST, NECROWRETCH, EXIVIOUS, AND BODY COUNT

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  9 Responses »
Dec 102012
 

Metal does not honor your putrid rules.

Okay, I’m not talking about YOUR rules, especially if they include visiting this site like your life depends on it. I’m talking about the rules of all those other people, like the rule that says Mondays must suck. Because metal hath brought these gems to your Monday.

MORS PRINCIPIUM EST

I think this is my fourth post about the new album from Finland’s Mors Principium Est (pictured above) since I found out about it in July. Entitled …And Death Said Live, it has already been released in Japan, it’s due for release in Europe and Australia on December 14, and North Americans will be able to get it on January 15.

As you can tell, this is an album I’ve been eagerly anticipating. Over the weekend I discovered that it’s now streaming in full at the Finnish Inferno web site. At that same location, you will find a track-by-track commentary by the band’s vocalist Ville Viljanen, and that of course will give you English-only speakers the always-hilarious opportunity to let Google Translate work its magic on the Finnish language. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: SKELETAL SPECTRE, DARKTHRONE, KAOTOXIN, AND OBLIVION (the movie)

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Dec 092012
 

In no particular order, here are things I saw and heard this morning that I thought were worth tossing your way.

SKELETAL SPECTRE

I really fuckin’ enjoyed this multi-national band’s last album, 2011’s Occult Spawned Premonitions (reviewed here). The band includes an extraordinary extreme vocalist named Vanessa Nocera as well as Roger “Rogga” Johansson of Ribspreader and Bonegnawer fame. I’ve been watching Skeletal Spectre pretty closely as they move forward toward the release of their next album, Voodoo Dawn. This morning I saw the unveiling of the finished cover artwork by Adam Geyer, which is up above. Very nice.

I’m still blasting “Bone Dust”, the one song from Voodoo Dawn that has surfaced to date. In case you missed it the first time it was featured at NCS, here it is again; the album is due out in early 2013 from Pulverised Records.


Continue reading »

BANDCAMP FAN ACCOUNTS

 Metal News  27 Responses »
Dec 092012
 

We’ve been singing the praises of Bandcamp since its very early days. It no longer really needs the publicity: Metal has discovered Bandcamp in a big way, with dozens of record labels and thousands of bands now having established Bandcamp pages, where they stream, give away, and sell their music (and other merch). I’ve seen some writers calling it “a piracy killer”, and although that’s probably more optimism than reality, it certainly gives fans an effective way to hear and acquire digital music without having to enrich some douchebag torrent site with their visits.

Bandcamp’s creators have always said that over time they would add new features, and so they have. The most recent enhancement was rolled out in beta test beginning the week before Thanksgiving. It’s called the Bandcamp Fan Account, and for now it’s an invitation-only trial. I got my invitation on November 21 and intended to write something about this new development then, but I got distracted by something important, like the sound of a passing car, and forgot. Thanks to NCS reader Booker for reminding me.

The Bandcamp Fan Account allows you to establish your own customizable page on the Bandcamp site and to populate it with a list (with album art and recommended tracks) of all the music you’ve downloaded from Bandcamp, as well as a “wish list” of what you’d like to get. You can share your page with other people on Bandcamp, which allows them to explore the collection of what you’ve acquired. If you don’t want other people to see that Katy Perry album you got, Bandcamp also gives you the ability to hide selected albums from public view.

You can “follow” the fan pages of other fans and receive e-mail alerts when they download new music, which is how I know about Phro getting that Katy Perry album. The Fan Account also gives you the option of following bands and labels on Bandcamp, and if you do that you’ll get e-mail alerts when they add new music to their own pages. Continue reading »

BANDCAMP UPDATE: EARACHE AND DEBEMOR MORTI

 Free Shit, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  11 Responses »
Dec 072012
 

Not long ago we reported the awesome news that pioneering metal label Earache Records had established a Bandcamp site, launching it with an interesting mix of both new and older releases from their formidable catalogue. Just days after that, they increased the awesomeness by adding Bolt Thrower’s legendary 1991 album War Master to the site.

That was one of 8 albums we suggested that Earache add to Bandcamp, and guess what? Yesterday they added another album from our list:

Entombed: Left Hand Path (1990)

We pushed for the addition of that album because . . . well hell, if you don’t know why, I don’t know how to begin to explain. It is one of your humble editor’s favorite metal albums of all time, world without end, amen.

And holy shit, that’s not all. When I wasn’t paying attention Earache also added two more albums from the NCS list: Altars of Madness (1989) and Blessed Are the Sick (1991) by Morbid Angel!!!

And that’s STILL not all . . . Continue reading »

“THE ONLY GOOD TORY” TAPE CONTEST!

 Metal News  8 Responses »
Dec 072012
 

Of course, you know that NO CLEAN SINGING, in collaboration with GRIND TO DEATH, released a free 46-song compilation of grind, powerviolence, harsh crust, and fastcore called The Only Good Tory. So awesome is this comp that no price can be put upon it, which is why we put no price upon it.

When we announced the release of this comp, we said that in the near future we would be be offering the comp on limited-edition tape produced by DIY Noise as a prize for a competition among NCS readers. We din’t fuckin’ lie: That day is now upon us. And as a bonus, the tapes will come with exclusive NO CLEAN SINGING and GRIND TO DEATH patches! To announce the contest, we turn to our Master of (deviant) Ceremonies, PHRO:

Hey girls and boys! Are you having a great holiday season? Want to make it even better by getting a FREE TAPE OF TEH GURINDZZZ?

It’s easy, if you’re not a drooling moron*!

As we all know, grind/violence is basically Shakespeare with a heroin addiction, so let’s get all poetical up in here! Send us your most inspired grind/violence rewrite of the brilliant lyrics to Napalm Death’s “You Suffer” and we’ll choose the best one (or however many, I’m still drunk, Islander can sort out the dogfuck details) to get a free tape. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: THE RESISTANCE, ENDEZZMA, RAINBOWDRAGONEYES, AND MEDICATED

 Free Shit, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Dec 022012
 

Here’s a daily round-up of new metal I discovered today that I decided was worth your time. And, of course, who better than I to determine what is and isn’t worth your time? Such important decisions can’t be left up to you, because you would fritter away the hours doing ridiculous things like eating, sleeping, playing with your nether bits, and bathing your hedgehog.

What I have for you in this post: The Resistance (Sweden), Endezzma (Norway), Rainbowdragoneyes (U.S.), and Medicated (Finland).

THE RESISTANCE

If you wondered what had become of founding In Flames guitarist Jesper Strömblad after he left that band in 2010, The Resistance is what happened to him. Along with Jesper, the band also includes guitarist Glenn Ljungström (another In Flames alum), vocalist Marco Aro (ex-The Haunted, Facedown), and drummer Chris Barkensjö (ex-Kaamos, ex-Grave). [At one time, the band also included bass-player Alex Losbäck Holstad (ex-Despite), but he was ejected a few months ago.]

So yes, you could call this a super-group, but The Resistance insist that they are an on-going band and not a one-off project. Their debut EP, Rise From Treason, is now scheduled for release by EarMusic on January 25, with a full-length album projected for next April. Continue reading »

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