THE RE-UNITING OF AUGURY’S ORIGINAL LINE-UP IS AN AUGURY OF GOOD THINGS TO COME

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
May 262012
 

There are times when I catch myself about to say that Quebec is the current tech-death capital of the world, and then I’m reminded by things like the new song from Nile which premiered yesterday that such a claim would be an overstatement. But not by a lot. Quebec seems loaded up with excellent tech-death bands — including Cryptopsy, Gorguts, Neuraxis, and Beyond Creation — and Augury is certainly near the head of the pack.

Their first two albums, Concealed (2004) and Fragmentary Evidence (2009), were both true mind-benders of progressive technical metal, dazzling in their complexity and ever-changing styles, both imminently memorable and satisfyingly brutal.

I had the great pleasure of seeing the band perform twice in 2010 (and reviewed those performances here and here), once on The American Defloration Tour with The Black Dahlia Murder and again on the Panic Over North America Tour with Soilwork. Vocalist and co-lead guitarist Patrick Loisel was especially impressive, perhaps even more so because he’s older than your average death metal frontman and in his day job he teaches history and science.

At the time of those tours, Augury was playing without fretless bassist Dominic ‘Forest’ Lapointe and drummer Étienne Gallo, both of whom were members of Augury when the band recorded Concealed and Fragmentary Evidence. Lapointe had left in February 2010 to focus on another band, Montreal’s Beyond Creation, whose amazing 2011 debut, The Aura, we reviewed here. If you want to have your mind blown by some six-string fretless bass shred, check out this video we featured at NCS of him doing a playthrough of Beyond Creation’s “Omnipresent Perception”. Continue reading »

NILE: “THE FIENDS WHO COME TO STEAL THE MAGICK OF THE DECEASED”

 Metal News  10 Responses »
May 252012
 

Take an Arabic-sounding melody, wrap it up in blazing, unpredictable fretwork and frenzied drumming, add an array of vocal stylings (guttural gurgles, throaty howls, clean chants), and then accelerate the fucker — and what do you have? You have the new song by Nile: “The Fiends Who Come to Steal the Magick of the Deceased,” the second track off of At the Gate of Sethu.

The song just got its exclusive premiere at Noisecreep, and you really should go hear it if you have any affinity at all for tech-death, because it is a fascinating listen. Then come back here and share with us your reactions. (I could just borrow the Noisecreep player and stick it up here at NCS so you wouldn’t have to look at all the photos of Adam Lambert, Kenny Chesney, and Steven Tyler on that Noisecreep page, but I decided not to be a dick for a change.)

At the Gates of Sethu will be released via Nuclear Blast Records on June 29 (Europe) and July 3 (North America). The handsome cover art (there are two versions) was created by Seth Siro Anton (Septic Flesh). Check out the other version after the jump, along with a nice photo of Nile. Continue reading »

THE HOWLING WIND: “OF BABALON” AND “THE MOUNTAIN VIEW”

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
May 252012
 

I went back and re-read my May 2010 review of The Howling Wind’s last album, Into the Cryosphere, and I cringed a little at how much I had loaded it up with ice metaphors: “Massive distorted riffs that alternately race like an avalanche, chug, or relentlessly trudge forward with the grinding power of a glacier in motion. Guitar leads that establish chilling melodies, as if reverberating off the walls of icy caves. Bleeding solos that howl like inversion winds across a blasted tundra. Icy vocals that hold out no hope of mercy . . . .”  And shit, there was even more . . .

Even though I’m slightly embarrassed to read what I wrote, I do remember vividly how hard that album knocked me down. The intensity of my enthusiasm simply exceeded the limits of my literary skills. When I started hearing rumblings of a new album in the works, I got excited all over again — and now we’ve finally received details about the release, plus a new song.

The Howling Wind’s next album will be titled Of Babalon, it was recorded by Colin Marston (Krallice, Dysrhythmia, Gorguts), it has a cool album cover, and it’s scheduled for release by Profound Lore on July 17. This week Profound Lore also started streaming the fifth track on the album, a song called “The Mountain View”. Continue reading »

WINTERFYLLETH: “THE GHOST OF HERITAGE” RE-ISSUE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
May 242012
 

In September 2010 I went on a MISCELLANY expedition (posted here), and one of the bands I discovered was Winterfylleth, from Manchester in the UK. At the time, they were on the verge of releasing an album called The Mercian Sphere, and another web site had started streaming a track from the album — “A Valley Thick With Oaks”. Stunning song, and it led me to get the album and begin following the band.

Two days ago Candlelight Records re-issued Winterfylleth’s 2008 debut album, The Ghost of Heritage. The songs on the re-issue have been remastered by Colin Marston , the multi-instrumental member of Krallice, Dysrhythmia, and Gorguts. Candlelight also commissioned the new album artwork you see above.

When the band originally created The Ghost of Heritage, they recorded two songs that weren’t included on the album when Candlelight released it in 2008 — “The Ruin” and “The Honour Of Good Men On The Path To Eternal Glory”. Both of those songs as they were originally recorded in 2008 are now included as bonus tracks for the re-issue. The only reason I can imagine why these songs were left off the album originally is their length. The album was 49 minutes long without them, and those two songs would have added another 18+ minutes.

But that’s truly the only reason I can think of, because the songs are great. Admirers of The Mercian Sphere will recognize the titles of the two bonus tracks, because re-worked versions of both appeared on that album. Continue reading »

MORE AGALLOCH SUMMER TOUR DETAILS

 Metal News  9 Responses »
May 222012
 

The last time I posted about Agalloch’s summer North American tour with Taurus, I only had 10 dates.  Now the band have made an official announcement, and virtually the entire schedule has become available. In the comments to the last post, a few of you were bemoaning the lack of Denver and Phillie dates, among others. Well, fret no more. Those cities are included, along with a bunch more.

Here’s the official announcement, and the schedule is after the jump.

“AGALLOCH have announced a massive North American tour this summer that they will be embarking on. Support on all dates will come from Taurus which features Stevie Floyd of DARK CASTLE.  The band have also been confirmed to play this year’s Noctis Fest which will be taking place on Sept 28th/29th in Calgary, Alberta. A statement from the band reads as follows:

“This tour will mark the release of our recently recorded EP “Faustian Echoes” on both LP and CD.  We have taken great care in the design of this release.  Sometime before the tour we will have both a streaming and digital download option available.  However, the LP and CD versions will only be available at the shows during the dates on the tour and will be available via mail order after the tour.  We will be adding material (both new and old) to our set list and depending on stage time we anticipate playing between 90-120 minutes.  The set will rotate each night.  We have carefully selected local openers whose music fits the environment of an Agalloch show.  Where there are no openers selected, we will play nearly 120 minutes.  We are all personal fans of the openers and encourage everyone to show up early to see them.  We will have a variety of merchandise for sale including: 2 new shirt designs, our back catalog, “The Demonstration Archive,” “Marrow of the Spirit” vinyl, a tour poster by Stevie Floyd, original photographic prints by Veleda Thorsson, and various other odds and ends.”

“The dates go as follows and the TBA’s will be updated once things are finalized: Continue reading »

EVOCATION IN THE TIME CAPSULE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  11 Responses »
May 192012
 

Sweden’s Evocation are one of my favorite death metal bands. They are old school. I don’t mean they mimic the old-school sound. I mean they went to the old school when it was new and graduated with honors.

They recorded their first demo (The Ancient Gate) in 1992 and another promo that same year, and then in 1993 the band split up, despite interest being expressed by a number of labels. Evocation returned to life in 2006 with a demo of new material, and then three full-length albums were released between 2007 and 2010, the last of which was the wonderful Apocalyptic (2010).

Since the release of Apocalyptic, Evocation signed with Century Media. On June 26, Century will release Evoked From Demonic Depths – The Early Years, a compilation of demo, unreleased, and rehearsal material.  This isn’t the first comp of old Evocation material; another one was released in 2004 by a label named Breath of Night. But the new comp will include a different collection of songs and performances, as well as a 32-page booklet and three live bootleg videos from 1992.

One of the songs on the forthcoming comp appeared on that four-song  1992 demo, The Ancient Gate. It’s called “Through the Darkened Peril”, and earlier this week DECIBEL began an exclusive stream of the song. It’s a great song — but it’s actually been released before — and that brings me to Swedish Death Metal. Continue reading »

ROTTING CHRIST AND NEGATIVE PLANE: THE SOUNDTRACK TO DEMON SEX (and new music from THOU ART LORD)

 Metal News  2 Responses »
May 182012
 

Skogsrået, Näcken Och Djävulen [“The Call of the Nature-Demons (in the Name of 1000 Devils)”] is the title of Mikael Häll’s doctoral dissertation on the subject of sexual intercourse with nature spirits and demons in 17th and 18th century Sweden. It will be published later this year by Malört Förlag, a Swedish publishing house that specializes in “texts about the fantastic, the numinous and the aberrant.”  It sounds like an interesting book, especially since it may explain the ancestral roots of why Sweden produces so many killer metal bands.

I would also like to applaud Malört Förlag for coming up with the idea of issuing a soundtrack for every book they release.  And, of course, what better way to read about sexual intercourse with nature spirits and demons in 17th and 18th century Sweden than to do it while listening to Rotting Christ and Negative Plane.  That’s what Malört Förlag decided, and it sounds like a fuckin’ good idea to me.

Malört Förlag is now selling a 7″ vinyl single to accompany the book which includes two exclusive new tracks by those bands. I still haven’t figured out what turntable to buy, but I’ve ordered this single as further inducement to get my damned ass in gear and get a turntable, and also because both bands are awesome.  You can buy the single, too, by following this link.

I wish I could stream these two songs for you, but I haven’t found them online yet.  HOWEVER, while we’re on the subject of things related to Rotting Christ, earlier this week a new song was released by Thou Art Lord, which is a side project of Rotting Christ’s guitarist/vocalist Sakis. More about that after the jump, including a link for a free download of the single. Continue reading »

YOUR MORNING TRIP THROUGH HELL AND BACK: ISRATHOUM, ENABLER, PUTRID PILE, AND JOHNNY WINTER

 Eye-Catchers, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  11 Responses »
May 182012
 

I spent last evening in Tacoma witnessing a momentous event in the life of a friend and then celebrating it with her and her family. Had a blast, but between that and day-job shit, I didn’t make much headway on reviews I’ve been trying to write. I did have time to latch on to a few new songs that struck a chord, and they’re in this post. Also, on the way out of Tacoma back to Seattle, I saw something that sent me on a nostalgia trip — more on that at the end of this post. But first, I bring you Hell.

ISRATHOUM

I latched onto this band (or they latched on to me) almost entirely as a result of that eye-catching album cover you see above. It’s for their second full-length release, Black Poison and Shared Wounds, which is out now on Daemon Worship Productions (the same label/distro that’s handling the U.S. release of the new album by Iceland’s Svartidauði that I wrote about two days ago.

Israthoum was originally created in Portugal during the early 90’s, but its members relocated to The Netherlands around 1998. The three current members are, shall we say, devoted followers of The Left Hand Path. All three of them also interchangeably play bass and guitars on the album (one of them also plays the drums), and all three share vocal duties.

Daemon Worship have put two songs from the album on SoundCloud — “The Unravelling Traveller” and “The Presence, The Baying”. The music is scathing — definitely not for the faint of heart. But beneath the surface veil of blasting and rending there lurks an almost avant-garde layer of complexity that reminded me in some ways of Deathspell Omega, and I found the melodies crouching in the dark corners of my head long after the music stopped. Continue reading »

AGALLOCH SUMMER TOUR TAKING SHAPE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
May 172012
 

Earlier this year we reported about a note by Agalloch on their Facebook page that they were planning a 30-day tour of the U.S. and Canada this summer.  All the dates have not yet been announced, but this morning I saw a note on Lambgoat reporting the following schedule, which is obviously not yet complete.  I’m liking where they intend to start this thing:

7/12 Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
7/13 Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre
7/20 Chicago, IL @ Reggie’s Rock Club
7/22 Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
7/23 Toronto, ON @ TBA
7/25 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Downstairs
7/26 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
8/1 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
8/3 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks
8/5 Austin, TX @ Red 7
8/9 San Diego, CA @ The Casbah
8/11 San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall

It appears that a band called Taurus will be along for the ride. And in other Agalloch news, the band have a new EP, Faustian Echoes, on the way. It consists of a 20-minute long conceptual track and was recorded live onto two-inch tape with Billy Anderson at Jackpot Studio in Portland, Oregon, on March 24-25. A release date has yet to be set, but we will keep you updated about it. The EP is slated to appear on both vinyl and CD.

And because Agalloch is on my mind, I have a quality video after the jump of the band performing “Bloodbirds” and “In the Shadow Of Our Pale Companion” at the Ragnarök Festival in Germany on April 13, 2012 (via Brooklyn Vegan). Continue reading »

LISTENABLE TEASERS: LIVARKAHIL, DEW-SCENTED, SYBREED, AND ZONARIA

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
May 162012
 

Over the last 24 hours I saw different kinds of web teasers about new music from four bands whose past material I’ve really liked, and by coincidence I found out about all of them through Facebook posts by the French label, Listenable Records (even though Listenable is not currently the label for all the bands).  So it made sense to collect all those teasers in one post, right?

LIVARKAHIL

Last September I featured (here) the new official video from this French band for a song called “Above All Hatred”, which was then due to appear on their second album, Signs of Decay. The music reminded me of Behemoth-style blackened death metal with some DevilDriver groove in the mix, and man, did it have one motherfuckin’ head-smasher of an opening riff. Actually, the whole song was a sweet head-smasher. Signs of Decay was a wonderful album, too — one of many I just never got around to reviewing last year.

Livarkahil are following up Signs of Decay with a free digital EP named Wrath of God, which will be released later this month. I like that strategy of following a full-album release with a free EP.  Today, Listenable and the band started streaming a track from the EP called “Through Hatred and Devotion” — and yes, hatred is a consistent theme for Liverkahil. The song proves once again that Livarkahil know how to start a song strong — and how to follow the intro with pummeling rhythms, blistering vocals, and catchy melodies. Have a listen to this brutal beast right after the jump. Continue reading »

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