DECAPITATED UPDATE

 Metal News  28 Responses »
May 112011
 

Decapitated have released the album artwork for their fifth studio album and Nuclear Blast debut, Carnival Is Forever.  The album will be released in Poland and  North America on July 12th and in the rest of Europe on July 15.

Now, here at NCS, we think Decapitated is the shit. This new album is on our most-anticipated list for 2011. But, to be brutally honest (which of course is the only kind of honest we know how to be), this album cover is lame. Really, what is this supposed to be? That mask looks like something out of a Disney movie. I’m sorry, this is not metal — and it is a huge fall-off from the awesome cover that Seth Siro Anton (Septic Flesh) did for the last album (which we’ll remind you about after the jump.)

These comments about the cover from guitarist and founding member Wacław “Vogg” Kiełtyka are revealing, and touchingly honest:

“Very intriguing and quite strange for a metal album but surely staying in memory.  A vital thing is that it’s a photo. We did not want any computer graphics this time or anything artificial or plastic.  The same regards the production of the album. We had actually been thinking about getting a painting for the cover but unfortunately we couldn’t do it. Maybe next time.”

The album title is a bit strange, too. More on what that’s supposed to mean, after the jump . . . Continue reading »

WHAT DO THESE NAMES HAVE IN COMMON: BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, JOB FOR A COWBOY, BEHEMOTH, BARN BURNER, SISTER, FALCONER, GENTLEMANS PISTOLS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  11 Responses »
May 112011
 

Give up? The answer is: They’re all bands who are signed to Metal Blade, they all have new releases on the horizon, and they all have new songs that Metal Blade has packaged together in a digital stream emanating from SoundCloud.

Here’s the line-up of music:

Black Dahlia Murder: “Moonlight Equilibirum” (album: Ritual)
Job For A Cowboy: “Misery Reformatory” (album: Gloom)
Behemoth: “Slaves Shall Serve” (album: Abyssus Abyssum Invocat)
Barn Burner: “Keg Stand and Deliver” (album: Bangers II: Scum of the Earth)
Sister: “Hated” (album: Hated)
Faloner: “Svarta Ankan” (album: Armod)
Gentlemans Pistols: “I Wouldn’t Let You” (album: At Her Majesty’s Pleasure)

All of these albums are scheduled for release on June 7, except the first and last ones, which will be released June 21.

There is good news and bad news here. The good news is that we can listen to these 7 songs right here, right now. The bad news is that these are the only songs from the albums that we’ll be able to hear, because the Rapture is coming on May 21.  (more after the jump . . . including breaking news about the end of the world) Continue reading »

BRUTALIZE ME! (NEW SLAMS FROM ABOMINABLE PUTRIDITY)

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  40 Responses »
May 102011
 

Fuck. We just made a u-turn on our musical road — right into the path of an 18-wheeler semi-truck going about 80 mph. Cruising along, listening again to that excellent From Exiles cover EP (see this post), and then we saw that Moscow’s Abominable Putridity put up two new tracks on YouTube yesterday. Paused the From Exile, punched “play” on the first AP track — and got flattened. Pancaked. Road kill. Now just a nasty smear of guts and mangled tissue on the pavement. Fuck.

Do you know Abominable Putridity? We first found out about them early last year when we did a feature on Cameron “Big Chocolate” Argon (Disfiguring the Goddess, etc.), who played some live shows with the band in Russia and recorded some vocals for them, too. Their debut album, In the End of Human Existence (2007), is a crushing behemoth of brutal death-metal loaded with Devourment-style slamming riffage. But, shit, that was roughly four years ago.

It appears the long wait for new Abominable Putridity is just about over. The band signed to the Brutal Bands label last year, and it appears recording and production work on the next album is done. It will be called The Anomalies of Artificial Origin. It will feature awesome album art by Par Olofsson (we did a screen-grab of one of those YouTube clips to feature at the top of this post and blew it up, but we really want to see a high-resolution image of this thing).

As for the vocals, we’ve been snooping around forums and message boards and found some comments from the band’s guitarist Sergey indicating that Matti Way (Cinerary, Liturgy, ex-Disgorge, ex-Pathology) has done the lead vocals for all the tracks, and that guest backing vocals have been provided on different songs by Angel Ochoa (Condemned, Cephalotripsy), Corey Athos (Deeds of Flesh, Flesh Consumed), and one other (so far unidentified).

As for the new songs, there are two of them, and they don’t mess around. Wantonly destructive fuckers, but with irresistible groove. Go past the jump and listen — that is, if you’re in the mood to be pummeled about the head and shoulders and left to bleed out. Continue reading »

METALITY – THE COMPILATION [VOL. 2]

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  26 Responses »
May 092011
 

NO CLEAN SINGING is proud to announce the release of METALITY’s second compilation of music from the Middle East. If you don’t already know, METALITY is a great metal blog that covers music from around the world, but with a unique emphasis on metal bands from the Middle East and North Africa. That blog has turned us on to lots of great music in the past. Through an effort so gargantuan as to make us exhausted just thinking about it, METALITY has now assembled a compilation of music from more than FIFTY bands — including bands we’ve previously written about here at NCS — and it’s now available for free download.

If you scrutinize that flyer up above, you’ll see our name as a co-sponsor of the release. In fact, we’re the sole North American co-sponsor of this comp. One perq of being a co-sponsor is that we got an advance listen to all the tracks on this compilation. What it doesn’t mean is that we’re sworn to rave about all the music regardless of what we honestly think about it. So, we’re going to give you our honest opinion about this comp: It’s amazing.

The download files (two of them) for this album are big — and not just because they include more than 50 songs. The download also includes a separate file of album art for each band plus a file of links to the web pages or social media sites for each of them. You could be forgiven if you needed something more than the word “free” to invest the hard-drive space on this beast. So, after the jump, we’re going to do three things:

We’re going to provide more detailed observations about the music on this compilation so you’ll have a better idea what you’re getting into; we’re going to feature five of our favorite tracks; and (courtesy of METALITY), we’ll give you an embedded music player that will allow you to stream each song or put the whole album on continuous play. And of course, we’ll give you the link for the download if you like what you hear.

There are some real gems on this comp — we think it’s worth your time to stay with us after the jump and investigate this further.  Continue reading »

INGESTED

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  18 Responses »
May 082011
 

We fucking loved Surpassing the Boundaries of Human Suffering, the 2009 debut from Manchester, England’s Ingested. We raved about it here. That was a long time ago. Time passes, and one of two things usually happens. You read the depressing news that a band you liked has split up, or eventually you read that, lo and behold, there’s a new album on the way.

In the case of Ingested, the news we just saw is of the latter, happy variety: There is indeed a new album — entitled The Surreption — scheduled for release on June 6 by Siege of Amida. Within the last few days, the band has displayed the eye-catching cover art you see above — created by Colin Marks, who has created similarly arresting artwork for Whitechapel, Suicide Silence, All Shall Perish, and many others, in addition to Ingested’s first album. It’s not exactly an uplifting image, but neither is Ingested’s music.

In addition to the album art, we have more details about the album. For example, it was recorded at Studio 6 Swindon with Stu Mckay and Cherrywood Studios Bristol with Rob Purnell, Jonny Burgen and Dave Purnell (Trigger the Bloodshed), and it was mixed in L.A. by Mick Kenney (Anaal Nathrakh, Bleeding Through). Yeah, so far so good. Also, the album will feature guest appearances by Alex Erian (Despised Icon) and Mathew Jones (Martyr Defiled).

On top of all that, Ingested has recently released the first song from The Surreption. It’s called “Castigation and Rebirth”.  (stay with us after the jump to hear that song . . .) Continue reading »

“DELIVER US” FROM IN FLAMES

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  23 Responses »
May 072011
 

Okay, that could be interpreted as kind of a sarcastic post title. But I didn’t really mean it the way you think. You’ll see — it’s a play on words.

I actually am faithful to In Flames. They were my gateway to extreme metal, years ago. Here at NCS, we weren’t terribly thrilled with their last album, but that hasn’t stopped us from getting up for the new one, Sounds of A Playground Fading, which will be released between June 17 and June 24, depending on where you live.

Yesterday, Century Media released the first single from the album in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, and it will be available for purchase on iTunes and elsewhere in North America on May 10. It’s called “Deliver Us”, and of course the thing is already up on YouTube — which means it’s now on our site (after the jump).

The days of Whoracle and Clayman are of course long gone — “Deliver Us” doesn’t constitute a revival of that style. But I do like the track. Quite melodic, of course, with pulsing keyboards in the mix and a catchy main riff. Clean singing in the chorus, of course, but the chorus is staying in our heads. I’m finding this a step up from the last album. What do you think? (Hear the song after the jump.) Continue reading »

SLAUGHTER SURVIVORS TOUR

 Metal News  13 Responses »
May 072011
 

If you live in the U.S., you may remember that the promoters of this year’s SUMMER SLAUGHTER tour conceived a creative piece of marketing by allowing fans to vote from among a list of 11 bands for the last act to fill up the touring line-up. Within the Ruins won that vote and will be joining The Black Dahlia Murder, Whitechapel, Darkest Hour, Six Feet Under, Dying Fetus, As Blood Runs Black, Oceano, and the almighty Fleshgod Apocalypse on SUMMER SLAUGHTER.

Rumors have been circulating that the promoters would organize a second tour featuring bands from the voting list that didn’t get selected via the Facebook ballot-stuffing . . . uh, voting. Well, now that’s been confirmed by the tour promoters. There will indeed be a SLAUGHTER SURVIVORS tour, and this will be the line-up:

CONDUCTING FROM THE GRAVE
THE CONTORTIONIST
SCALE THE SUMMIT
RINGS OF SATURN
VOLUMES
STRUCTURES

The tour will run from late July to late August. The cities and venues haven’t been announced yet, but we’ll get you that info as soon as we have it.

Note that Scale the Summit have been included, even though they weren’t on the voting list. That’s a cool development. Unfortunately, some of the best bands on that voting list who didn’t get selected aren’t included on this SURVIVORS tour, ie, Revocation, Neuraxis, Augury, 7 Horns 7 Eyes, Dawn of Ashes.

A HISTORY LESSON FROM DYING FETUS

 Metal News  3 Responses »
May 062011
 

It pays to check your e-mail, especially when you get e-mails like the press release I just saw. Here’s the news: Dying Fetus will release a limited edition “mini-LP” this summer to mark the band’s 20th anniversary. Entitled History Repeats…, it will include cover tracks from bands who have influenced Dying Fetus, including Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower, Cannibal Corpse, and Pestilence, plus a new Dying Fetus track exclusive to this release.

The mini-LP will be limited to 5,000 copies worldwide and it’s scheduled for a July 19 North American release through FYE stores and Relapse Mailorder exclusively. Additional information and pre-orders are available here.

Now this is my kind of history lesson. Maybe school-boards nationwide can be convinced to put this on high school curriculums so the youth of our nation can be educated properly. It would sure beat the hell out of lots of crap courses I had to sit through. Stay with us past the jump to see the awesome track-list for this baby. Continue reading »

SIGNINGS

 Metal News  12 Responses »
May 062011
 

Earlier this week, our bro BadWolf put up a note of well-deserved congratulations to Battlecross on their signing with the formidable Metal Blade label. Yesterday, we saw news of two other signings by bands we dig mightily — Fleshgod Apocalypse and Malfeitor. We’re mightily happy about that, especially because of the accompanying confirmation that we’ll have albums from both bands in our not-so-distant future.

FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE

On April 5, our favorite Italian metal band, Fleshgod Apocalypse, put up this note on their Facebook page: “We are really hard at work on a brand new album for a summer release. Ideally during Summer Slaughter Festival in North America. We are seeking a new home as well.” As of yesterday, they found their new home, with the announcement of a worldwide deal with Nuclear Blast Records. It’s worth remembering that these dudes have only produced two releases — Oracles (2009) and the Mafia EP (2010) — and yet they’ve ridden those attention-grabbing albums to considerable critical and popular acclaim, paving the way for this auspicious label signing.

And yes, yesterday’s announcement included the confirmation that  the band are currently wrapping up work on a second full-length album with an expected release date “sometime around this year’s Summer Slaughter Tour.” Which is just fuckin’ peachy. Truth be told, this band’s appearance on Summer Slaughter is what I’m most anticipating from that tour. It will be especially sweet to hear them play songs from a brand new album. Congratulazioni a Fleshgod Apocalypse!  (more after the jump . . . including tunes) Continue reading »

DEVIN TOWNSEND CONSTRUCTS A SUPER-GROUP ON “DECONSTRUCTION”

 Metal News  8 Responses »
May 042011
 

Devin Townsend will be releasing two albums on June 21 via InsideOut Music, Ghost and Deconstruction. According to DT, Deconstruction will be “brutal in a lot of parts, but pretty glorious in others. It rides the fence of negativity but ultimately ends supremely positive.” As for Ghost, he says it “is the mellowest (by far) and prettiest record I’ve done so far” with a “very wonderful vibe.” So, guess which one we’re more interested in hearing?

Our interest in Deconstruction was piqued today by seeing additional details about the album (which we’re late noticing), and in particular about the guest musicians who participated in recording the songs. Let’s start with the skins: There will be two different drummers — Ryan Van Poederooyen (Terror Syndrome, The Devin Townsend Band) for the “crushing stuff,” and Dirk Verbeuren (Soilwork, Scarve, Aborted) for the “inhuman stuff.”

But that’s just for starters. Check out this list of additional guest musicians who will appear on the album:

* Mikael Åkerfeldt (OPETH, BLOODBATH)
* Ihsahn (EMPEROR)
* Tommy Rogers (BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME)
* Joe Duplantier (GOJIRA)
* Greg Puciato (THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN)
* Floor Jansen (AFTER FOREVER, REVAMP)
* Oderus Urungus (GWAR)
* Paul Masvidal (CYNIC)
* Fredrik Thordendal (MESHUGGAH)
* Paul Kuhr (NOVEMBER’S DOOM)

That’s a pretty fucking good advertisement for Deconstruction, don’t you think? After the jump, you can see the track list and which songs feature which of these guests. Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries