WRECHE: OUR PREMIERE OF “SCHERZO” AND A REVIEW OF “ALL MY DREAMS CAME TRUE”

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Mar 182021
 

 

Almost four years ago we had the pleasure of premiering the self-titled debut album of Wreche, a now-Oakland-based project with a distinctive approach to black metal, in which John Steven Morgan‘s kaleidoscopic piano performances took the place of guitars. It was an inspirational album that twisted and expanded the genre’s musical antecedents in eye-popping ways, creating music that was adrenaline-triggering, mind-bending, and utterly fascinating.

And thus it was an exciting development to learn that Wreche had completed work on a second full-length, and equally exciting to be invited to premiere its first excerpt, which we’re now about to do. The name of the album is All my dreams came true, and it will be released on May 14th by Handsmade Records. The name of the song we’re presenting today is “Scherzo“. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: OMINOUS SCRIPTURES — “THE CORPSES OF ARCHANGELS IN BONFIRE”

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Mar 182021
 

 

In 2015 the Belarusian brutal death metal band Ominous Scriptures independently released their debut album Incarnation of the Unheavenly, which was followed the next year by a CD release through Permeated Records. The band went on to release their sophomore album The Fall of the Celestial Throne last year through Willowtip Records, which we reviewed here.

But now an Italian label named Lethal Scissor Records (founded by members of Bloodtruth, Instigate, and Vomit the Soul) have returned to Incarnation of the Unheavenly and will be reissuing the album on March 30th in two CD editions as well as digitally. To help pave the way for that release, a lyric video has been produced for a track from the album named “The Corpses of Archangels in Bonfire“, and we’re premiering it today. Prepare to be gutted and pulverised. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): FECULENT — “THE GROTESQUE ARENA”

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Mar 172021
 

 

The Brisbane-based band Feculent chose for their name an adjective that means “foul with impurities” and “saturated in waste”. That was obviously a carefully considered decision, because their brand of death metal is foul and disgusting, unhealthy and repugnant, devoid of hope and lethal in its objectives. But Feculent’s administration of audio murder is multi-faceted — they are as capable of delivering the most pulverizing of punishments as they are at radiating sensations of flesh-eating contagion.

And they are very, very good at doing all that, and more. Perhaps this shouldn’t come as a surprise, because although Feculent is a new name, the line-up includes members of Snorlax, Shackles, and Resin Tomb, who’ve already made horrifying names for themselves.

Feculent’s debut release is a six-track monstrosity named The Grotesque Arena, and it’s coming out very soon (March 19th) via Brilliant Emperor Records — but you need not wait a moment longer to experience it, because we present a full stream today. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: HALVEKSIA — “MIASMA I & II”

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Mar 162021
 

 

“Formed in 2016 while on the night shift”, the British band Halveksia took their initial inspirations from a mix of doom, gothic rock, and melodeath, but have evolved in a direction of death/doom — albeit with an interweaving of stylistic ingredients not often heard in the genre. Their music is undeniably heavy and head-moving, but also haunting, and capable of channeling harrowing emotions in ways that aren’t easily forgotten.

Halveksia’s debut EP is named Miasma, and it’s now set for release on March 26th by Infernum Records. The EP’s opening track, “The Rift“, emerged first, and today we’re premiering a video for the EP’s title track. That track is divided into two parts on the EP, but those are combined in the video, and the effect of them together is a changing experience that is as captivating as it is disturbing. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: PALUS SOMNI — “SIDUS LUDOVICIANA”

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Mar 162021
 

 

Different formulations of extreme metal provoke thrills (and chills) in different ways, but if we’re honest, thrill-seeking explains a lot of the genre’s attraction among fans. We want the jolt to the nerves, the punch to our pulse-rate, the feeling of wild freedom — experiences that are harder to find in other kinds of music.

It’s often difficult to explain these attractions to people who are unfamiliar with metallic extremity — especially when the excitement is provoked by sensations of unearthly, blood-freezing terror. And that is the kind of experience that the trans-Atlantic band Palus Somni excel at creating. Their music is electrifying, and it creates a sense of wonder, but it seems to draw its power from hideous dimensions that exist elsewhere from our earthly domain. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: EREMIT — “ENSHRINED IN INDISSOLUBLE CHAINS AND ENLIGHTENED DARKNESS”

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Mar 152021
 

 

Sometimes as you gaze through your musical playlist all you want is the quick hit, a burst of adrenaline, an episode of violence, a jolt to the muscle reflexes, a spinning centrifuge for your brain. And maybe at other times you just want to sink yourself into another world, to lose yourself in a different realm — even if it’s one where it seems all life is being methodically snuffed out. Sometimes becoming spellbound is the goal, even if the spell is darker than midnight.

Which brings us to “Enshrined in Indissoluble Chains and Enlightened Darkness“, one of the three massive tracks that make up the new album by Germany’s Eremit, which is set for release by Transcending Obscurity Records on June 11th, and which continues the mythological story arc that the band started on their debut album, Carrier of Weight. It is not a quick hit. It is an experience of the other kind, a complete immersion in a different realm, the makings of a pitch-black (yet often poignant) spell — a meticulously plotted pageant of pain created through a union of bleak, earth-shaking heaviness, wraith-like eeriness, and the voice of a man being destroyed. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HELSLAVE — “ROTTING PILE OF FLESH”

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Mar 122021
 

 

Last month we had the fiendish pleasure of premiering the first single from the forthcoming second album by the Italian death-dealers Helslave. We don’t have a crystal ball, but we’ll still predict that their new album, From the Sulphur Depths, is going to become a huge favorite for fans of massive, marauding, deliciously gruesome old school death metal. And as a further teaser for its horrifying pleasures, we’re equally pleased to bring you the album’s second advance track today — “Rotting Pile of Flesh“.

We summed up that first single, “Unholy Graves“, as “bombastic chainsaw death metal of the finest kind, an electrifying, turbocharged thrill-ride that’s as crushing as a pile-driver and as ferocious as giant famished wolves on the hunt”. The song we’re bringing you today is just as exhilarating — even when the band introduce a ghastly change of pace. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: HEADS FOR THE DEAD — “THE SEANCE”

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Mar 122021
 

 

Soon, we will light the candles, join hands, and our seance will begin. Your mind’s eye will be opened to visions of the supernatural, entering a realm of wondrous horrors. But the eyes in the front of your head will witness visions of a different but equally wondrous kind.

Our seance takes the form of a fantastic music video, and for this entertainment ovations should be given not only to the maker of the video and the makers of the music but also to the performer who threatens to steal the show. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): CRUEL LIFE INSIDE — “ECLIPSIS VITAE”

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Mar 092021
 

 

With their debut album Eclipsis Vitae the Italian band Cruel Life Inside have created a thoroughly captivating experience from start to finish. Inspired by both a commitment to channeling dark and intense emotions, ranging from pain and rage to suffering and hope, as well as by the rich landscapes of their Calabrian homeland, C.L.I. lead the listener through a continuously ebbing and flowing experience that is often dreamlike but also titanically powerful.

In crafting this wide-ranging musical journey, the trio that make up C.L.I. have deftly interwoven a variety of stylistic ingredients that include atmospheric black metal, melodic doom, post-metal, and prog-rock, as well as bringing in instrumental textures that include lush cinematic soundscapes, classically inspired piano performances, and acoustic guitar, with vocals that vary between evocative clean singing to vicious snarls.

Today it’s our pleasure to present a full stream of this remarkable record in advance of its joint release by Casus Belli Musica and Beverina Productions on March 12th, preceded by a few more thoughts about what you’ll hear. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: GODLESS — “VAGINAL EMPATHY FOR THE MONARCH OF LUST”

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Mar 082021
 

 

The seeds of the Puerto Rican black metal band Godless were planted by its founder Gröfaz (a.k.a. Asaradel) a long time ago, in the winter of 1989. Since then, its history has been infamous. It’s reported that live Godless performances created controversy due to severely brutal and sick displays of self mutilation, blasphemy, and carcasses on stage, which led to a prohibition on them playing live. Line-up changes ensued, as they alway do, and eventually Gröfaz decided to make Godless a one-man band, but the music has remained ominous, sinful, misanthropic, perverted, and of course godless.

Over the course of the decade since its founding, Godless has released (in addition to early demos) a pair of EPs and three albums, and now an hour-long fourth one is on the way. Its name is Lustcifer, and it’s set for co-release by Satanath Records and The End Of Time Records on March 28th. From that album we are today presenting a track that’s stripped-down, primitive, carnal, and evil at its core. That track is “Vaginal Empathy for the Monarch of Lust“. Continue reading »

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