AN NCS PREMIERE: MODERN RITES — “BLACK WOLF”

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Jul 272021
 

 

The day may come when we no longer need to identify musicians in metal (or in other artistic genres) as women or men, as black or white, as queer or straight, but simply as performers, whose creative talents will speak for themselves, for better or for worse. But that day is still far away. And so we will note that one of the two people in Modern Rites is a young American black man, Jonny Warren (who is also behind the experimental metal band Kuyashii).

But we make that observation not only because black performers are still a rarity in metal but also because Warren’s personal experience is at the heart of “Black Wolf“, the song we’re premiering today from Modern Rites‘ debut album Monuments in advance of its August 27 release by Debemur Morti Productions. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DAWN OF A DARK AGE — “GORGES – TRAP – AMBUSH”

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Jul 272021
 

 

Vittorio Sabelli and his changing coterie of comrades in Dawn of A Dark Age are fully capable of donning their blackened armor, brandishing their swords and scythes, and going on the attack — and it’s thrilling when they do. But many heavy metal bands can do that. Very few are capable of surrounding those electrifying charges, as this band does, with such a rich and distinctive sonic pageant of other experiences, and none that we know of make the clarinet such a vital part of the pageantry.

I was late to the theater of Dawn of A Dark Age, having been oblivious until the 2020 album La Tavola Osca, which I reviewed and premiered here last July. But that record was one of those extraordinary musical adventures that makes one a fan for life. It arrived after Sabelli’s completion of a multi-album opus called The Six Elements, and it began a new thematic cycle. Now we have the second installment in the cycle.

This new album, which will be released by Antiq Records on September 24th, is named Le Forche Caudine, and it’s another remarkable achievement. It consists of two “Acts”, two very long compositions that succeed in transporting the listener to a very different age, in a very different world than we know now. Today we present an excerpt from Act I that’s absolutely exhilarating. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: MOON ORACLE — “THE HUNTRESS AND THE HUNTED”

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Jul 262021
 

 

We are told that the Finnish band Moon Oracle was first formed by Sûrya-Ishtara and U after spending years searching for their own sound with previous bands, and that they then asked Harald Mentor to fill the role of vocalist, knowing his abilities from such acts as Ride for Revenge, Incriminated, and Uskonrauha, among many others.

What they’ve accomplished together is the creation of a 26-minute debut record entitled Muse of the Nightside, presenting music that’s equally informed by archaic black metal and eldritch doom. It is a strange and twisted experience, capable of invoking dread and fear but simultaneously proving to be charismatic in its own ghastly and primeval way — as you shall learn for yourselves through our premiere today of the record’s opening track, “The Huntress and the Hunted“, in advance of the full release on August 18th by Signal Rex and Bestial Burst. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: LUCIFER’S FALL — “TRIDENT STEEL”

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Jul 262021
 

 

Active since 2013, the Australian doom band Lucifer’s Fall follow in the footsteps of the greats, of Witchfinder General and Saint Vitus, of Pentagram and Reverend Bizarre. And they’re resuming their march with a new third album that’s set for release on August 8th by Sun & Moon Records. Its name is III – From the Deep, and today we bring you a video for the new record’s opening track, the epic “Trident Steel“.

This song alone demonstrates the variations that Lucifer’s Fall bring into their sounds, and the supernatural inspirations of both their lyrics and their music, while remaining true to the traditions of classic doom and heavy metal. And yes, it’s an exception to our porous rule about singing — for good reason. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: ARSENIC ADDICTION — “MOON AND SUN”

 Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres  1 Response »
Jul 232021
 

 

Although the command in our site’s name has always been subject to exceptions, it’s nevertheless true that those exceptions are rare and must be well-earned. The singing in the song that’s the subject of a stunning video we’re premiering today is one of those well-earned departures from our usual nastiness — though it’s joined with throat-slitting vocal viciousness.

The song in question is “Moon and Sun“, a thoroughly gripping track from the third (and most recent) album by the band Arsenic Addiction from Salt Lake City, Utah, the title of which is XIX. As you’ll discover, if you’re not already familiar with the song, it’s a multi-faceted affair that brings into play ingredients of gothic metal, melodic death metal, and symphonic metal (among others). It’s heavy and hard-hitting but also completely enthralling, and it’s disturbing as well as beautiful. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: LUTHARÖ — “LOST IN A SOUL”

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Jul 232021
 

 

After releasing a trio of EPs that includes 2020’s attention-grabbing Wings of Agony, the metal band Lutharö from Hamilton, Ontario are at last ready to present their debut full-length. Entitled Hiraeth, it’s now set for release on October 15th.

For those familiar with Lutharö’s previous output, the new album expands their sonic palette, interweaving ingredients from melodic death metal, thrash, and power metal, with occasional astute uses of orchestration. As the advance press for the album accurately states, Hiraeth delivers plenty of raw power and aggression but is equally effective in presenting emotionally potent and head-hooking melodies and creating hauntingly beautiful atmospheres.

And today we’re premiering a video for “Lost in a Soul“, a song that displays all those qualities in abundance. Continue reading »

SUPREME CONCEPTION: A REVIEW OF “EMPIRE OF THE MIND” AND THE PREMIERE OF “TRANSGRESSION II: SELF-DISCOVERY”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Jul 222021
 

 

(In this article we present Todd Manning‘s review of a new EP by the Czech band Supreme Conception which will be released on August 6th, and our premiere of a track from the EP.)

It’s easy to get Tech-Death wron;, endless flurries of indistinguishable notes make for unremarkable material. It’s a good thing then that Supreme Conception avoid the genre’s pitfalls on their new EP Empire of the Mind. The trio consisting of Michal Kusak (ex-Imperial Foeticide) on vocals, Martin Meyer (Heaving Earth) on guitar, and Aaron Stechauner (ex-Rings of Saturn) on drums, display plenty of instrumental prowess on these five songs, but also manage to create an engaging listening experience as well. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: REJECTER — “DOUBLE SPHINX AT THE ENTRANCE”

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Jul 222021
 

 

We’ve had a lot of premieres at our site today already, but this final one definitely should not be overlooked, even though the band is an unheralded newcomer of undisclosed origin. A duo consisting of musician Carhaix SSP and vocalist G., they’ve taken the name Rejecter, which is a reflection of their rebellious black metal ethos — an embrace of “the yearning for freedom” (including freedom from the genre’s more rigid and dictatorial voices) and an encouragement of people “to repel the forms of authority that disrupt their lives”.

Rejecter’s eight-track debut album, The Vulgar Wine, is being presented by the anti-fascist black metal collective RABM, and today we’re premiering a multi-faceted and immediately gripping track named “Double Sphinx at the Entrance“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VEILBURNER — “VAULT OF HAUNTING DISSOLVE”

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Jul 222021
 

 

In December 2018 our writer Andy Synn compiled reviews of all the albums released as of that date by Pennsylvania’s Veilburner, including their then-latest (and then-finest) record, A Sire To the Ghouls of Lunacy. In tracing the band’s evolution, he characterized the music as “warped and twisted, tumultuously technical and deviously discordant Black/Death Metal which doesn’t really sound exactly like anyone, or anything, else out there.”

And now here we are, two and a half years later, even more copiously surrounded by bands who have embraced “dissonant death metal” as their dominant style, and yet what Andy wrote at the end of 2018 still holds true: Veilburner still don’t really sound like anyone, or anything, else out there. Their newest album, Lurkers in the Capsule of Skull (set for a September 24 release by Transcending Obscurity Records), is abundant proof of that.

The new full-length is relentlessly fascinating and mood-altering, both horrifying and mesmerizing, ingenious as well as deranged, and thoroughly gripping from start to finish. Although only time will tell, it has all the earmarks of a record that will be remembered for a long time after it emerges in all its fiendishly spine-tingling and skin-chilling glory. As a further sign of this, today we’re premiering a stunning album track named “Vault of Haunting Dissolve“. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): TEMPLE OF DREAD — “HADES UNLEASHED”

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Jul 212021
 

 

On Friday of this week, July 23rd, Testimony Records will release Hades Unleashed, the third full-length of the titanically powerful German death metal band Temple of Dread. It is everything that its title promises — as hellish, as electrifying, and as explosive an album as you’re likely to encounter in the realms of death metal this year.

The band’s two previous albums, Blood Craving Mantras and World Sacrifice, were damned good, but the songwriting on this new record still shows big steps forward, with even greater dynamics of tempo and mood, but without stinting on the hell-raising, bone-smashing power of the band’s attack or the astonishing insanity of the vocals. Continue reading »

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