(written by Islander)
I thought about deleting the placeholder post I made yesterday but then decided to leave it there so you can see the explanation for why this SEEN AND HEARD roundup arrives a day late. That way, I can get right to the music.
Sad to say, I don’t think I’ll be able to compile a SHADES OF BLACK feature today. Continue reading »
(written by Islander)
It is another Bandcamp Friday. You will already have many suggestions and discoveries that point you toward how you might spend your music-oriented money today. Poor you, here are some more. (And I’ll have more tomorrow, so you can start complicating your life in advance of the final Bandcamp Friday of 2025 on December 5th.) Continue reading »
these plus one
(written by Islander)
The last time I compiled a Saturday roundup of new songs and videos was 21 days ago. No need to go into the reasons for that (because I’ve previously shared them). Needless to say (but of course I’m saying it), the volume of new musical extremity that has emerged since then has reached towering proportions.
As the days passed I continued keeping lists and open tabs, and visited many of those locations to do some listening yesterday and this morning, but it was still just a relatively small dent in that looming edifice of new sounds.
To sort of make up for being AWOL for the past three Saturdays, I’ve made this roundup a big one — a baker’s dozen of songs (and one short EP). Recency being primacy, I tended to lean toward newer things at the top of my list.
As you’ll see, I also tended to lean toward prominent and familiar names, but eventually descended deeper under ground. I also loaded almost all the videos on the front end — eight of them to start. And much of what’s coming, including the first four songs in a row, delivers the kind of high-speed intensity that gets hearts hammering. Continue reading »
(written by Islander)
As I write this I am in Nottingham, England, and eagerly looking forward to attending Andy Synn‘s wedding on Saturday. An overnight flight brought me from Seattle to London with an early arrival yesterday, and I didn’t feel too much the worse for wear despite only napping for an hour on the 8-hour flight. Then came a car ride to Nottingham and a lunch there with Andy, his bride-to-be, and some other American friends (including DGR) who have also come over for the event.
By the end of our long lunch and a post-prandial drink at another spot, I was hitting the wall. I fought to stay up until 6 pm and then crashed hard. But I woke up early this morning after 12 1/2 hours of sleep feeling great, and now I’m quite happy with my jet-lag solution!
Of course it’s still weird being on UK time, weird in the sense that I decided to pull this round-up together with something like 7 hours to go before it will magically appear in line with our normal daily posting schedule, instead of just minutes. Continue reading »
(written by Islander)
Today all of us here were greatly saddened to learn of the passing of Tomas “Tompa” Lindberg.
In the middle of August Lindberg and At the Gates released tragic statements reporting on Lindberg‘s affliction with Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma (a cancer in the mouth and pallet) and the failure of invasive surgery to eliminate it. Based on the statements, it appeared that chemo treatment had become the last hope for arresting the disease. According to the band, Lindberg had been “receiving dedicated care in a specialized ward where he is being closely monitored around the clock.”
Those same statements reported that Lindberg had recorded the vocals for a new At the Gates album on the day before the surgery last spring. Of course, he has left an indelible mark on the history of metal already, and it will be great to hear him again when the album is finished. But now we are left to mourn his passing, while remembering his vital contributions to the growth and evolution of extreme metal.
Rest In Power. Continue reading »
(Our contributor Zoltar wishes to draw your attention to developments in the grimy and gruesome Rotpit camp, including a new EP and an expanded full lineup now at work on a new album.)
Thanks to the internet, the scene has been flooded over the last decade or so by super-groups – or whatever you wanna call those sometimes intercontinental collaborations of musicians from all over the world, each of them delivering their parts in their respective home studios before getting somebody to piece them altogether et voilà. Too often, said collaborations prove to be a tad lackluster as, let’s face it, nothing beats getting the whole gang together in one sweaty rehearsal room to bang their instruments innit?
Thankfully, some of those more or less ‘bands’ beg to differ. And not only did ROTPIT released two splendid downtuned-as-fuck slimy full-lengths and two split EPs but they’ve gone the extra mile by actually turning this once studio-only thing into a fully functioning five-piece band. Both Ralf Hauber from REVEL IN FLESH and former MASSACRE and WOMBBATH vocalist Jonny Pettersson started collaborating together in HEADS FOR THE DEAD in 2017 but felt like churning out something even uglier, hence giving birth to ROTPIT. Continue reading »
(written by Islander)
Long story short, I overslept. I mean, I way overslept, and in a few hours from now, as I start to pull this roundup together, I’ve got to do something else that isn’t blogging. So I will have to truncate today’s collection.
P.S. Truncate descends from the Latin verb truncare, meaning “to shorten,” which in turn can be traced back to the Latin word for the trunk of a tree, which is truncus. Incidentally, if you’ve guessed that truncus is also the ancestor of the English word trunk, you are correct. Truncus also gave us truncheon, which is the name for a police officer’s billy club, and the obscure word obtruncate, meaning “to cut the head or top from.” (lifted from this place) Continue reading »
(written by Islander)
Today is another Bandcamp Friday. If you’ve forgotten the fine print, this means that from midnight last night to midnight tonight (PST) Bandcamp will waive its usual revenue share (10% for physical items and 15% for digital items) for sales through the platform.
Sadly, there’s other fine print you can find here about the impact of the Trump administration’s elimination of the de minimus exemption from tariffs. There is apparently an exception for “informational media” entering the US, which includes vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, books, sheet music, and other items, but don’t forget the decision of many European postal services to suspend shipments to the U.S. following the elimination of the de minimus exemption. Of course, this tariff-related shitstorm will not affect purchases of digital music.
Speaking of storms, our in-box blew up over the last 24-48 hours with messages from bands and labels seeking to take advantage of this Bandcamp Friday, which always happens every time one of these Friday’s rolls around. I managed to keep my nose above water and picked a few recommendations for you — on top of the great volume of other recommendations we’ve made since the last Bandcamp Friday. I wish I could make this a bigger roundup of recommendations, but life has gotten in the way. Continue reading »
(written by Islander)
I only had one premiere to write up for today and only one other post on the calendar (an interview you can find here), so I felt a compulsion to add something more, hence this brief roundup of new songs.
The first two picks were pretty obvious to me, coming from bands we’ve been following at NCS for a good long while. The third one was from a project I knew nothing about before this morning, but after hearing it I felt like a cut of meat that had been “tenderized” until paper thin, and I thought you might like to feel that way too. Continue reading »
(written by Islander)
This Saturday roundup is larger than usual — one new music video, seven songs from records due for release over the next couple of months, and an EP released a week ago.
Once again, I fell down a rabbit hole of high-powered musical intensity expressed in differing ways, from brutal and bludgeoning to mind-lacerating. I’m also going to give myself a pat on the back (because you’re too far away to do it) for arranging the songs in a way that I think provides a coherent flow (flow really isn’t the right word for the movements from song to song, but I haven’t thought of a better one).
P.S. In the U.S. this is Labor Day Weekend, a three-day break from work for a lot of people (but not everyone). As is our habit around here, we’re not taking a break. As usual for us during holidays, we’re just going to ignore this one and continue fouling the airwaves straight through Monday. Of course we hope you’ll come back to see what we have in store tomorrow and the next day, but even if you aren’t here we will be. Continue reading »