SEEN AND HEARD: UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN, LITOSTH, CHALLENGER DEEP, DROWNED, TVINNA

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Nov 272023
 

If you include yesterday’s Shades of Black column, this makes four days in a row that I’ve been able to pull together a round-up of new songs and videos. That’s a rarity, explained by a confluence of events I won’t bore you by describing.

I’m not sure it’s a welcome rarity, because it may just add to a feeling of being overwhelmed by the volume of music that each week (hell, each day) brings. But that’s not my problem, is it?

Is it? Well it is, because I also feel overwhelmed. Join the club. This pleasant misery needs company.

UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN (Chile)

You don’t really need any preparation, just a listening device, working ears, and a finger putting pressure on a digital arrow. But I have to further justify my existence, so… Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON SATURDAY: MORBID SACRIFICE, MOTOROWL, KRASSEVILLE, TORPE, TRIUMPH OF DEATH

 Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Nov 252023
 

I woke up before the sun rose today because it’s harvest season and I have crops to gather.

Ha Ha, no that’s horseshit. I have no idea why I woke up before the sun on this Saturday morning, especially given the number of adult libations I consumed (as usual) on Friday night.

The only good that came of the early rising was my ability to experience the coldest morning of the year so far, at least where I live near Puget Sound. As I slurped my coffee and inhaled the first cigarettes of the day in the blackness outside, my phone reported 35°.

On further reflection, my opening line wasn’t entirely horseshit. I do have crops to gather in, musical crops… the time of reaping is ever upon us here. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A BLACK FRIDAY: VREDEHAMMER, BLOOD RED THRONE, NECROWRETCH, DVVAD, AKKAMOTH

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Nov 242023
 

Here in the U.S., where I am, it’s been a holiday week. For the rest of the world, it was just another Thursday. The holiday continues today, but even elsewhere in the world it’s not just another Friday.

For decades here, the day after Thanksgiving has marked the beginning of shopping season for the upcoming Christmas holidays, but it seems to have spread its infection elsewhere, even in the world of metal, based on the volume of e-mails I’ve received offering discounts on records and merch from locations in Europe as well as North America.

Well, why fight against the tide? Today, for one day only, we’re offering a 50% discount on the price of subscriptions to NCS, which is normally zero. Get ’em while they last.

I resisted the obvious temptation to limit today’s collection of new music to black metal, but it’s all still pretty black. Continue reading »

HAPPY 14TH BIRTHDAY TO US!

 Birthday Posts, Metal News  41 Responses »
Nov 212023
 


painting by the great Zdzisław Beksiński

On November 21, 2009, I made the first post at this blog. On the 21st day of every November since then (except one year when I forgot to do it until a few days later) I’ve made a post celebrating our birthday. And here I am doing it again, because we’ve survived another year.

In these annual posts I usually explain how I had no ambitions or expectations when I started the blog, nor any training or experience as a music writer, and that the sum total of my motivation was to create an enjoyable diversion for myself from the grind of daily life, and to indulge my burgeoning interest in heavy music. And there, I just did it again, albeit in fewer words than in many other years.

In these annual observances I also tend to reminisce about how many things about NCS have changed from the early days, and about how surprising it is to me that we’re still here. Some of you remember the early days, because you were here with us then and haven’t left. Others who have begun checking in here more recently might yawn if I indulged in that kind of nostalgia, so let’s just skip that, as I have the last couple of years, and get right into expressions of gratitude and the annual tradition of mind-numbing statistics (though they’re less mind-numbing this year).. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: SAVAGE LANDS, LORD DYING, DEATH SCYTHE, MÊLÉE DES AURORES, VOLTUMNA, STUVEMARK, COMPRESSION, SLIIMO, VOODUS

 Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  3 Responses »
Nov 182023
 

LOTS of new metal to get to today, so this sentence is all the introduction I’ll provide.

SAVAGE LANDS (Int’l)

A charity project whose goal is to help preserve the forests of Costa Rica and the creatures that live there. Founded by drummer Dirk Verbeuren and musician-turned-activist Sylvain Demercastel (a current resident of Costa Rica). First song is about howler monkeys and features appearances by guitarist Andres Kisser (Sepultura) and vocalist John Tardy (Obituary). OK, I’ll bite. Continue reading »

NORTHWEST TERROR FEST 2024: LINE-UP ANNOUNCED, TICKETS ON SALE

 Metal News  No Responses »
Nov 132023
 

No Clean Singing has been a proud sponsor of Northwest Terror Fest since its inception in June 2017, not just helping to spread the word but adding the (mostly) able bodies and (mostly) addled minds of our staff to the production of the fest as it has happened on stage. And now we’re doing it again.

As previously announced, Northwest Terror Fest will again take over the Seattle underground with a three-day cavalcade of dark, dangerous, and diverse sounds on May 9th to May 11th, 2024. What hasn’t been previously announced, but has now been made public as of today, is who you’ll get to see on stage. Here’s the lineup: Continue reading »

TITO’S WEEKLY METAL RECS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Nov 132023
 

Our friend Tito Vespasiani from Everlasting Spew Records (and other metal endeavors) is back with another playlist of recommended heavy songs. This one includes 16 tracks, with commentary about a few of them below. The full stream is at the end, and on Spotify here.

ENGULF – BELLOWS FROM THE AETHER

Engulf is back! Hal Microutsicos’ solo project made such a great impact with its three EPs and it’s now time for a full-length. Getting influences from old school acts such as Morbid Angel, early Gorguts, Suffocation, and Hate Eternal, and adding a modern twist, this is extremely catchy. Mandatory! Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: SATYASENA, DAWN OF A DARK AGE, OBSCENE WORSHIP, HOLDLAJTORJA, THE SEPT, MYAELIN, SANGUINARY EMPEROR

 Album Reviews, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Nov 112023
 

I have a lot to recommend today. I made some of these choices and wrote some of these words earlier in the week. I have to hurry through the rest of it this morning because a wind storm is in progress outside and the branches bombarding the roof are beginning to sound like a war zone.

Cozy inside, I can tolerate that, but where I live near Puget Sound the power lines are overhead, cradled by forest limbs, and when the limbs go down (as they will, somewhere on this little grid), the power and the internet will go out too. So, I’m hurrying now….

SATYASENA (U.S.)

The first song I chose is just gloriously wild, a high-speed roller-coaster for your mind that should leave it yelping with glee.

If I were a kinder person and more capable of self-restraint, which I’m not, I’d just stop there and not spoil the fun, much of which comes from being surprised by what happens in the song. On the other hand, I doubt that any preview words can really spoil the thrills of “My Passion“, so here goes: Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: VITRIOL, SAASTA, RUDRA, PESTILENGTH, SAN LEO

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Nov 042023
 


Vitriol – photo by Peter Beste

It’s been a hell of a week for yours truly, emphasis on hell. In an average week now, the release of new metal is a deluge. This past week, another Bandcamp Friday pushed the storm-surge higher. Fittingly, as I write this, the rain is coming down outside like a fucking monsoon, a rarity here in the usually drizzly Pacific Northwest.

On top of that I decided to get the latest covid vaccine and the latest flu shot on the same day early in the week. When you have as much gray hair as I do and have spent the majority of your life smoking, getting both of those shots was strongly recommended. In hindsight, getting them both at the same time was a dumbass move.

Sore arms for a few days, of course, and all my energy also evaporated for a few days too, as it did with every previous covid jab. But this time my head and lungs got congested like someone had flooded them with concrete slurry and my nose ran like a leaky faucet. That has slowly improved, but I’m still congested and damned tired of that.

The combination of a big flood-tide of new music and a misery-clogged head isn’t a great combination for this usual Saturday column. Although I’m still happy with today’s picks, there should have been more. At least you can’t hear me hacking and snorting, so that’s one blessing. More blessings to follow…. Continue reading »

TITO’S WEEKLY METAL RECS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Nov 022023
 

Our friend Tito Vespasiani from Everlasting Spew Records (and other metal endeavors) is back with another weekly playlist of recommended heavy songs. This second one, like the first one last week, includes 20 tracks, with commentary about a few of them below. The full stream is at the end, and on Spotify here.

Defleshed – Grind Over Matter

Defleshed is BACK!

“Who?” Some fans out there could say. Oh come on, DEFLESHED! Under the Blade! One of the best thrashy death bands ever, grindy at times (like in this album) and one of the most aggressive and crushing bands as always. Continue reading »

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