TITILLATING UPDATES FROM SIGHT OF EMPTINESS

 Metal News  No Responses »
May 042012
 

“Titillating”: pleasantly stimulating or exciting; also: erotic.

That’s the definition of the word provided by the Merriam-Webster online dictionary. It looks like the Spanish translation of the word would be “excitar, estimular placenteramente”. It’s a great word, because it sort of sounds like what it means, at least to me. But that may be because it begins with “tits”, as in “this is the tits”.  Speaking of which, THIS is the tits, and it’s also titillating:

Costa Rica-based metal band Sight of Emptiness have finished recording their third album, to be released later this year, and it features a line-up of guest appearances that will make you look twice. If you’ve been a regular NCS reader, you already know about this talented band because we’ve written about them frequently and even helped them premiere a new song and video. If you don’t know about them yet, check this out.

Now, let’s start with the name-dropping: First, the album was recorded at SoloHits Studios in San José, Costa Rica by Swedish producer Thomas “Plec” Johansson (Scar Symmetry, Watain, Solution .45, Miseration), who traveled all the way to Costa Rica to work with the band for 22 days. Johansson will also handle the mixing and mastering at Panic Room Studios in Skara, Sweden.

Second, here’s the list of guest appearances:

Glen Drover (King Diamond & Megadeth)

Christian Älvestam (Scar Symmetry, Miseration, Solution .45

Whitfield Crane (Ugly Kid Joe, Another Animal

Ralph Santolla (Deicide, Iced Earth, Obituary)

Ole Halvard Sveen (Extol, Mantric, Lengsel)

and last but not least . . . Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT: AN UPDATE

 Metal News, THE SYNN REPORT  4 Responses »
May 032012
 

(Andy Synn provides this update about two bands he previously featured in his SYNN REPORT series.)

Today saw the release of two pieces of news regarding two former Synn Report luminaries, both of whom happen to be amongst my all-time favourite bands. One piece of news is very bad, whilst the other one is potentially very good.

First and foremost:

AVERSE SEFIRA

“As we write the names, the stars go out…”

Sadly, the US black metal titans have officially disbanded. An official press release has been issued by Clawhammer PR stating:

“American black metal titans Averse Sefira has officially disbanded. The band formed in 1996, and went on to make their mark through Europe and the Americas, performing with other notable black metal groups like Dark Funeral, Gorgoroth, Watain, Marduk, 1349, Absu, Antaeus, and Secrets of the Moon.

“The band gained a respectable following despite a fiercely independent stance that garnered them a complex reputation in the underground. They achieved wider exposure with their signing to Candlelight Records in 2007 and the release of their highly-rated fourth LP, Advent Parallax, the following year. Over the last decade, they also appeared in multiple documentaries and books examining metal culture. Continue reading »

THE DUAL DESTRUCTION TOUR: 7 HORNS 7 EYES AND STEALING AXION (AND A FREE TICKET GIVE-AWAY)

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
May 032012
 

When it comes to Washington State metal bands, my objectivity could be questioned, because I live in the Seattle area. But that’s only because you don’t know me well enough. Fact is, when it comes to the metal, I don’t think about the music of Seattle or Tacoma bands any differently than I do bands from California or New York or India or Europe or anywhere else. Yes, I have a chance to see them perform live more often than bands from elsewhere, but I won’t change my rule: I only want to write about bands I feel I can honestly recommend.

And I’m not bending the rule when it comes to 7 Horns 7 Eyes or Stealing Axion. They are extremely talented bands making music that ought to be heard far and wide. So, from my perspective, it’s extremely cool that these two bands have managed to arrange a tour together, sponsored by Guitar World. It’s called the DUAL DESTRUCTION TOUR, and I expect that’s what they’ll bring — destruction.

We’ve reviewed both of these bands’ most recent releases (7E7H here and Stealing Axion here), and in fact we got the privilege of streaming the new 7H7E album. But we have two more things to throw your way today, besides the tour schedule, which is still being expanded (see the current schedule after the jump).

First, we have one pair of tickets to give away, courtesy of Century Media, in a market of the winner’s choice. I’m going to make this contest really simple. Send me your name via e-mail to islander@nocleansinging.com. I will put each name on a slip of paper and put all the paper slips in a bowl. Rather than smoking all the slips, I will instead ask my non-metalhead wife to pick one of the slips from the bowl, and her pick will be the winner. I will then smoke all the rest of the slips. This contest will end at midnight, Pacific Time, on May 11, 2012

True story: this ticket offer came my way from Century Media minutes AFTER I wrote the balance of this post. If that’s not a freakishly felicitous coincidence, I don’t know what is.

Second, I have for you a play-through video by Stealing Axion drummer Blake Ferris. Watching and listening to this video brings to mind a question I have about skilled metal drummers every time I get a bird’s-eye view of their performances: How they do this? Continue reading »

FREE SHITH!

 Free Shit, Metal News  10 Responses »
May 022012
 

You know how sometimes advertisers intentionally misspell words on billboards and elsewhere because of its strange tendency to catch the eye?  I thought I’d try that.  The correct spelling, of course, is “Free Sith”, which refers to the movement to liberate the unjustly imprisoned Dark Lords in a galaxy far, far away.

Also, while checking my digital in-box this afternoon, I learned about a couple of free metal giveaways that I thought were worth passing on. First, Candlelight Records has today made available a free 8-song sampler of music by Candlelight artists, including previously unreleased material from Falloch, The Rotted, Wodensthrone, Sear Bliss, Woe, Winterfylleth, and Rumpelstiltskin Grinder — and it also includes the first single (“The Paranoid”) from Ihsahn’s new album Eremita.

I’m not familiar with Wodensthrone (yet), but the rest of those bands are all excellent, which makes this a very delectable deal. Unfortunately for many of you, the sampler is being offered exclusively through Amazon.com. For those who are able to get downloads from that site, GO HERE. After the jump, I’ve pasted more info from the press release about the music included on this sampler.

Oh, but that’s not all . . . Metal Blade has just made available a free sampler on the Amazon.de (Germany) site, and it includes 20 tracks, including songs by Amon Amarth, Six Feet Under (this is a new track from their forthcoming album), Cannibal Corpse, In Solitude, JFAC, Goatwhore, and Vomitory. The track list is after the jump. GO HERE to get that sampler, if you can. Continue reading »

TODAY’S ROUND-UP: NEW THINGS FROM AHAB, NACHTBLUT, STAM1NA, AND NE OBLIVISCARIS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  12 Responses »
May 022012
 

Here is a typically random round-up of interesting items that cleverly captivated my eager eyes during my ludicrously limited last break from the jacked-up job that plentifully puts bread on my tilted table, unlike this NCS job, which only feeds my spirit. And the pleasurable purveyors of entertainment in this post are: Ahab (Germany), Nachtblut (Germany), Stam1na (Finland), and Ne Obliviscaris (Australia).

AHAB

NCS writer TheMadIsraeli turned me on to this German doom band at some point last winter. Doom is still a taste I am slowly acquiring, and I can’t say that I’m yet able to consume it in large quantities at a single sitting. However, at the right time and if properly prepared, I do find it tasty. And though I haven’t explored the discography of Ahab in depth, I’m interested in their new album, The Giant.

The band have used their music to explore dark literature with a nautical theme. The Call of the Wretched Sea (2006) was devoted to Melville’s novel Moby Dick, and The Divinity of Oceans (2009) was a soundtrack to the 1820 sinking of the whaling vessel The Essex, an event that partly inspired Moby Dick and was also the subject of a great more recent book, In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick. It appears The Giant will follow at least a somewhat similar nautical path. Continue reading »

SHOCKWAVE FESTIVAL LOOKS FESTIVE

 Metal News  5 Responses »
May 022012
 

Fear Factory
Voivod
Cattle Decapitation
Misery Index
Revocation
Havok
Dirge Within
Last Chance to Reason
Vildhjarta
The Browning
Forged in Flame

That’s the line-up for a new North American touring festival that I discovered this morning via MetalSucks. I’m especially pleased to report that the tour starts in Seattle. I’m probably most excited about the prospect of seeing Cattle Decapitation, because their new album is shaping up to be one of the year’s best, but I’m interested in seeing most of the bands on this line-up. Of those I’ve seen before, Misery Index and Revocation never disappoint, and Havok might be my favorite among the current generation of re-thrash bands.

This will also be Vildhjarta’s first appearance in NorthAm. All I have to say about that is . . . THALL. And The Browning is one of my guilty pleasures. I have no doubt they will make me want to JUMP. So yeah, I’m going. As for whether you can go, the schedule of appearances is after the jump. Continue reading »

NACHTMYSTIUM: “AS MADE”

 Metal News  3 Responses »
May 012012
 

Near the end of each year, we pick a list of the year’s “most infectious” extreme metal songs — the ones that get stuck in our headss and won’t go away, the ones where you hear the first few notes months later and you know the song immediately. I just added a song to our list of candidates. It’s a track by Chicago’s Nachtmystium called “As Made”. It appears on a 7″ record by the same name that will become available for shipment on May 15 in black vinyl (limited to 500 copies).

Put out of your heads whatever you may think about Nachtmystium’s most recent album (or two), because this song is a rolling romp of black metal with Blake Judd vocals that sound like an acid bath. It gets in a groove from the start and stays there right through to the howling, feedback-laced ending. A little hook of a pulsing guitar lead and a metronomic drum beat insinuate themselves into your head, and damned if they aren’t still ringing in there long after the song is over. Or at least that’s my guess, because I haven’t stopped listening to the song since I first discovered it.

And along the way, there are some sweet blasts of double bass and fuzzed out guitar slams.  Prime, Fuckin’ A, rockin’ out material.

I really hope this song becomes available to people who don’t have turntables. For now, at least, it’s available for streaming at Invisible Oranges via THIS LINK. More info about the release is after the jump. Continue reading »

MORE WATER SPORTS! THE 2012 MAYHEM FESTIVAL CRUISE, FEATURING GOJIRA

 Metal News  6 Responses »
Apr 302012
 

What the fuck is it with this metal cruise phenomenon? First there was 70,000 Tons of Metal. Then came the Barge To Hell. And now we have the 2012 Mayhem Festival Cruise, as announced by a just-released video trailer.

NCS reader, heartless commentator, and sometimes writer KevinP has been riding my ass mercilessly about signing up for the Barge To Hell, especially since I foamed at the mouth about the line-up in this post. I’ve been sorely tempted, restrained only by the need to figure out how to explain to my non-metalhead wife that I plan to desert her for a week of partying on the Caribbean with a bunch of loose women and KevinP.

But now, things have gotten even more complicated: The Barge To Hell is scheduled to return to port in Miami on December 7, and December 7 is when the Mayhem Festival Cruise departs Miami. Maybe the timing would work out so’s I could stagger off one ship and stagger right onto the next one for another 4 days of getting massively fucked up by metal and alcohol, and being molested by more loose women!

It’s damned tempting, because Gojira is the headliner.

Actually, they’re not being billed as the main attraction — though they should be. Instead, the main attractions are Lamb of God, Machine Head, Anthrax, Hatebreed, Suicide Silence, and Kingdom of Sorrow. There are other bands, too, though to be brutally honest, which is the only kind of honest we know how to be at NCS, I’m mainly interested in Gojira and Battlecross. Continue reading »

WHITECHAPEL: NEW ALBUM DETAILS, TOUR INFO, AND A NEW SINGLE – “HATE CREATION”

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  23 Responses »
Apr 302012
 

Growth. That’s one thing we metal elitists like to see in a band’s evolution. Tennessee’s Whitechapel is definitely growing, and I don’t just mean in popularity. Today, Metal Blade unveiled the cover to Whitechapel’s new album (above), which is self-titled, as well as the track list. They also began streaming a new song from the album called “Hate Creation”.

I saw Whitechapel on their first U.S. tour, when they were an unknown bunch of deathcore upstarts. They had staying power. They amassed a big following and they helped spawn a wave of imitators. Some of those early deathcore progenitors have gotten stuck in a rut. Others have moved on in different directions, perhaps most prominently Job For A Cowboy, who have evolved into a solid death metal band. “Hate Creation” is evidence that Whitechapel is following a similar path.

I certainly wouldn’t claim that Whitechapel has completely left behind the defining tropes of deathcore, but “Hate Creation” is definitely another step along the road toward death metal mecca, and it’s one of the best songs they’ve yet created.

It hits like a phalanx of artillery in full bombardment mode, with explosive blasts that sound like they might be announcing breakdowns, except the pacing doesn’t really drop. The dynamics of the song are enhanced by stuttering, slightly off-kilter rhythms, speed and increased complexity in the riffing, and variations in the intensity of the onslaught, plus there’s a muted melody that I think will catch the song in people’s heads. And Phil Bozeman’s vocals are suitably violent and raw.

Give the song a shot after the jump, and past that we’ll give you more details about the album and about the band’s forthcoming tour. Continue reading »

THE AMENTA: AN UPDATE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Apr 302012
 

I’m a big fan of Australia’s The Amenta. So how I missed this news is mystifying, but better late than never: They will be digitally releasing a new EP called Chokehold sometime in May via Listenable Records. It will include two new songs —  the title track, “Chokehold”, and a cover of “Christ Bait Rising” by Godflesh. The band reports that both songs were recorded and produced “with a modern take on GODFLESH’S influential Street Cleaner album’s sound and aesthetic.”

The EP will also feature two live tracks taken from the bands 2011 V01D Australian Tour, as well as a remix of the track “V01D” from their last album.

As you can see, the cover art for the EP is done, and therein lies a tale. Apparently, the band tried to set up an ad on Facebook to publicize the EP, and Facebook rejected the ad because the cover art was considered “too extreme”. I guess Facebook has drastically different standards for advertising than it does for what people can put in their profiles and photo albums.

I like the picture of vocalist Cain Cressall up there — nice and metal — but it’s really not very extreme. No intestines are hanging out, no human organs are being consumed, no veins have been opened. Go figure.

I’m not positive how this EP relates to the band’s next album. In March they announced the new album’s title — Flesh is Heir — and a track list, and at that time they were finishing up the recording work. Doesn’t look like the new songs on the EP will be on the album. Of course, I’d be happier than a pig in shit to get an EP AND an album from these guys in 2012.

Two more pieces of news, including a new video, are after the jump . . . Continue reading »

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