Metal News Archives - Page 205 of 255

THE MONOLITH DEATHCULT CHECKS IN FROM THE STUDIO

Mar 032012

A blast from the past.

Pardon my harsh language, but if you don’t like The Monolith Deathcult, you’re a ninny and a poop-head. You’re a nincompoop, even. Sorry, but that’s just the way it is.

The band have been working on a new album, Tetragrammaton — excuse me, TETRAGRAMMATON. Advance pieces of music, which may or may not appear on the album (and likely will sound quite different if they do appear) have surfaced over the last year, and they sound just fucking fine. Some of what we’ve heard has disappeared from public view, but some pieces remain — the evidence of works in progress. We’ll get to that in a moment.

But in addition to dribbling out songs in various stages of completion, TMDC are starting to give us up-close-and-personal insights into the recording process, fleeting glimpses of genius at work. Yes, we will now have a series of all-important video studio reports from TMDC as TETRAGRAMMATON continues to take shape.

Yesterday, we got Part 1 of a planned 342.4 video reports on the recording of the album. In Part 1, we see “offline” member of TMDC, Carsten Altena, laying down a keyboard track with the kind of verve and virtuosity that shames the classical masters. People who like a bit of orchestral grandeur in their blast-furnace death metal are going to eat this up like a plate of fresh road kill.

As for other evidence of the band’s creative progress, we have four clips of music retrieved from the TMDC SoundCloud page (some quite recent). The first one is “Aslimu!!! — All Slain Those Who Brought Down Our Highly Respected Symbols To The Lower Status Of The Barren Earth”, which the band released about a year ago, as kind of a gap-filler between albums. It’s still available for free download via the SoundCloud player. Continue reading »

BARREN EARTH: “THE RAINS BEGIN” VIDEO

Mar 022012

I really liked The Curse of the Red River, the 2010 debut album from Finland’s Barren Earth. I had high expectations for that album because the members of Barren Earth include such Finnish metal veterans as vocalist Mikko Kotamäki (Swallow the Sun), Olli-Pekka Laine on bass (Ex-Amorphis, Mannhai), drummer Marko Tarvonen (Moonsorrow) , and Kreator guitarist Sami Ylisirniö.

With such a strong debut, I’ve had even higher expectation for the band’s second album, The Devil’s Resolve, which is scheduled for release on March 13 in North America (via Peaceville Records). It was mixed by Dan Swanö, it features cover art by Paul Romano, and it includes guest appearances by Mathias Lillmåns (Finntroll) and Jaakko Lemmetty (Korpiklaani). Based on an initial listen to The Devil’s Resolve, I’d say my expectations have been satisfied once again.

In an earlier post, we told you about a chance to download a song from the album called “The Rain Begins”, and as of today the band have now released an official video for the song. The song itself is immensely memorable, with a dramatic, piercing melody delivered by keyboard and guitar that easily takes up residence in your mind. It’s a melodic blend of doom and death marked by Kotamäki’s contrasting clean and harsh vocals.

But the video is almost as fun to watch as the music is to hear. Rather than try to explain why, I’ll just let you see it for yourselves . . . after the jump. (And unlike the song from Spawn of Possession featured in our last post, the lyrics to this song matter, and they’re wonderful.) Continue reading »

PETER DOLVING QUITS THE HAUNTED

Metal News 5 Responses »

Feb 292012

“As an early fan of Sweden’s The Haunted, I was deeply disappointed by their seventh studio album, Unseen, released last year. Andy Synn loved the album, though he admitted in his review that it was a true “grower” and not without its flaws. I’m afraid it didn’t grow on me. Though it had its moments, it seemed instead like another milepost in the decline of a once invigorating band.”

That’s how I began a post on February 3 called “Remembering When The Haunted Were Worth A Shit”, which was about a curious turn of events in which The Haunted released a previously unreleased video for the song “99″ from their 2004 album, rEVOLVEr, which happens to be the last album from the band I really enjoyed. I wondered why was it being released then, eight years after it was made. I wondered if the band felt the need to remind fans of an earlier time when their music meant more to metalheads than it seems to mean today. But there are now bigger mysteries surrounding this band.

About four hours ago, The Haunted’s front man Peter Dolving left this message on his Facebook page:

“I am officially quitting The Haunted. After years of working with the band, I am out. I have had it. I will NOT answer questions to why. It’s no one elses business. Thank you very much. I am looking forward to seeing you people at other shows with other projects.”

Doesn’t sound like it was one of those “amicable partings”, does it? Continue reading »

ANOTHER DREAMING DEAD UPDATE

Metal News 5 Responses »

Feb 282012

What a coincidence: Three days ago I decided to catch up with LA’s Dreaming Dead in a post called “Lapse”, mildly whining about the loooong wait for their Midnightmares album, which the band have been keeping to themselves for almost a year and a half while searching for a label. Really, my whining wasn’t intended as criticism of the band, but instead as a reflection of my own greediness/neediness, because the songs from the album that have surfaced over time have been so impressive.

Well, guess what? Today the NCS carrier pigeon squadron delivered a press release with this announcement:

“Los Angeles-based progressive/melodic death metal act DREAMING DEAD has set April 20th as the release date for their highly anticipated sophomore effort, Midnightmares. The follow up to 2009’s Within One, Midnightmares showcases DREAMING DEAD’s ability to meld elements of black, death, thrash and Schuldiner-inspired progressive metal into one thought-provoking and intense sonic assault. . . DREAMING DEAD are working with director Thomas Mignone and Peter Leininger (known for their work with Morbid Angel, Sepultura, Megadeth and many more) on a video for the track “Corpse Mtn.” Details on the video shoot are forthcoming.”

Given the absence of a label mention, I assume this will be a self-release. I’m bamboozled over the fact that no label has pounced on this band like lions on lambs, but I’m also happy that the wait is nearly over. Nice to see that a new vid is on the way, too. Stay tuned . . .

UPDATE: For more insight into the Midnightmare release delays and other interesting DD tidbits, check out the Jason Roche interview of Liz Schall published today (Mar. 2) at LA Weekly.

METAL LABELS ON BANDCAMP

Metal News 14 Responses »

Feb 282012

In a relatively short time, Metal Bandcamp has become THE go-to site for discovering new metal on the wonderful Bandcamp platform.

If you already know the name of a band or album that you’re after, Bandcamp’s search engine works fine. And if you’re willing to put in hours of effort on a regular basis, you can browse all the bands whose music is on the site by using one of the “metal” tags (e.g., “metal”, “black metal”, “metalcore”, “thrash”, “doom” or “progressive metal”). But who has that kind of time?

The valuable service that Metal Bandcamp provides is not only to keep readers abreast of what metal is being added to Bandcamp on a daily basis, but also to act as a filter — providing music descriptions, brief reviews, and sample music from new additions that are worthy of your ears. Virtually every day, and often multiple times a day, Metal Bandcamp’s tireless proprietor MaxR adds posts spotlighting what’s new in the Bandcamp world of metal. (He was also kind enough to annotate all of the 2011 “Best of the Year” lists at NCS with links to Bandcamp sites for the honored albums, where they existed.)

Recently, Max created a new page on his site that lists the record labels (from major labels to small independents) who have established Bandcamp pages for their releases, along with brief descriptions. In addition, on that page you can find links to each label’s Bandcamp splash page, plus a separate link to bands from each label that have been featured in Metal Bandcamp posts. Continue reading »

DEATH GRIPS GET GOT BY EPIC

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 6 Responses »

Feb 282012

BadWolf introduced me and many of you to Death Grips through the first installment of a series in which he spotlights the music of non-metal bands (here) — though I think most listeners would agree that there’s a helluva lot about Death Grips that’s metal. Because of BadWolf’s post, I got interested and starting following the band’s news. Early this month we reported that they intended to release two albums this year, including a song called “Blackjack”, which I included in that earlier post.

More news surfaced yesterday, and it kinda blows my mind: Death Grips has signed a record deal with Epic, the major label owned by Sony whose stable includes artists such as Fiona Apple, Natasha Bedingfield, and Brandy. Okay, to be fair, Epic is also home to Lamb of God, Ozzy Osbourne, and Judas Priest. As well as George Michael and Jennifer Lopez. And Mudvayne.

I hear the distant rumble of a throaty “What the fuck?!?” Or maybe that’s just my throat. I mean, Death Grips isn’t exactly a natural fit with the Epic roster, and I do wonder by what logic Epic saw this as a money-making signing, because this band is definitely out there. Or under there (“I am below / so far below / the bottom line”). Maybe Epic is trying to put some edge on their image.

As for Death Grips, I’m happy they get some label backing regardless of where it comes from; I certainly don’t expect that this group is going to “sell out”. I’m also now waiting for the J-Lo cover of “Beware” — “Dismiss this life / worship death / Cold blood night of serpent’s breath”. Fuck yeah. And I’m also happy that to celebrate the signing news, the band released another new song called “Get Got”. More details about the two albums plus the song are after the jump.

JOB FOR A COWBOY: “NOURISHMENT THROUGH BLOODSHED”

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 24 Responses »

Feb 272012

Anyone who thinks Job For A Cowboy is still a deathcore band didn’t hear the band’s 2011 EP, Gloom. You can simulate listening to it by reading Andy Synn’s NCS review (here). Or you can check out a song from JFAC’s forthcoming album, Demonocracy, because that’s what we have for you in this post.

The new, 9-track album, produced by Jason Suecof, is scheduled for release on April 10 by Metal Blade, who is accepting pre-orders for it now (here). It catches the eye with an album cover by Brent Elliott White, and it includes the return of two musicians who made their first JFAC appearance on Gloom — guitarist Tony Sannicandro and Cephalic Carnage bassist Nick Schendzielos, who replaced Brent Riggs last year.

Gloom revealed a band who were unabashedly leaving their deathcore roots behind and instead connecting with their death metal forebears, and even incorporating elements of black metal and doom on certain songs. What then does Demonocracy hold in store? Continue reading »

SWAMP ABYSS SORCERY

Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 2 Responses »

Feb 252012

According to the National Park Service, Florida’s Everglades swamp is “the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States.” It’s home to a wide variety of rare and endangered species, many of whom you would not want to meet up close and personal, including alligators, crocodiles, cottonmouths, Boa constrictors, Burmese pythons, rattlesnakes, and poisonous toads.

But there are other, far more menacing creatures in Florida and they’re crawling out of the abysmal swamps to eat your face.

I’m referring to the metal bands whose music is collected in a killer comp that’s available for free download on Bandcamp. Naturally, it’s called Swamp Abyss Sorcery, and it was packaged up by Satanik Recordings (who also released that Prostitute album we praised not long ago). The comp includes music by a few bands we already knew about and liked here at NCS, including the tar-choked, grungy, inexorable sludge metal of Shroud Eater and the crusty blackened thrash of Hot Graves. But man, they’re just part of the nasty menagerie of slavering creatures crawling and flying out of this download.

I’ve embedded the Bandcamp player after the jump so you can sample the sounds. Seriously, there’s some mighty fine shit to be had here. To do the download, go HERE. Continue reading »

SCANDINAVIAN METAL DENSITY

Metal News 21 Responses »

Feb 242012

I guess this map won’t surprise many people. We published more granular statistics about this phenomenon in a post way back in April 2010 called “Geekery In the Discordance”, reporting on the results of a calculation that counted the number of metal bands by country, as listed in Metal Archives, and then divided them by the total population of each country. That count included inactive bands, and so we found a way to sort the data by limiting them to active bands, and the results were very similar. Most active metal bands per million people:

No. 1: Finland

No. 2: Sweden

No. 3: Norway

I haven’t gone back to see if the numbers have changed in the last two years, though I’d be surprised if they have. Doesn’t look like they have based on the map. One interesting thing I noticed about that map is that if you look closely, Iceland looks pretty red, too.

Thanks to BlashyrkhBloggen for posting the map on Facebook and to Angry Metal Guy for re-posting it. And speaking of Angry Metal Guy . . . Continue reading »

NCS NEWS ROUND-UP: ASPHYX, HIGH ON FIRE, 7 HORNS 7 EYES, AND BEHEMOTH

Metal News 1 Response »

Feb 232012

Quite a few news items were delivered to the NCS Island today via carrier pigeons, which are our preferred mode of news transportation. Unfortunately, a few of the pigeons dived left when they should have dived right and landed in the loris compound, where they were unceremoniously converted into squab tartare. We’ll never know what important messages those brave aeronauts were carrying. But the ones who made it safely to the NCS editorial offices revealed the following:

ASPHYX

Yours truly can testify that the new Asphyx album Deathhammer is a delicious serving of primal death-doom with more hooks than you’ll find in this guy. But you don’t have to take my word for it, because DECIBEL has started streaming the whole album here.

HIGH ON FIRE

High On Fire’s new studio album De Vermis Mysteriis has now been scheduled for an April 3 release by eOne Music. It was recorded in Salem, Massachusetts’ GodCity Studios with producer and Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou. The album title apparently comes from a fictional grimoire created by Psycho author Robert Bloch and incorporated by H. P. Lovecraft into the lore of the Cthulhu mythos.

According to the press release I got, “The album carries a deeply mystical undercurrent, incorporating fantastical themes and lyrics detailing, among other things, time travel, a serum called liao that is made out of a black lotus, and ‘a Jesus twin who can see the past through his ancestors’ eyes.'” However, portions of the release were obscured by pigeon dung, so I can’t swear I got the Jesus twin thing right. Continue reading »

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