AN NCS PREMIERE: VOODUS — “THE GOLDEN”

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Oct 302018
 

 

The Swedish black metal band Voodus came to unholy life under the name Jormundgang more than a decade-and-a-half ago. Following the release of several demos and an album, the band adopted Voodus as their new name, and since then have released a pair of EPs, and now a new album fittingly named Into the Wild. This new full-length will be released by Shadow Records on November 26th, and it’s our pleasure to share with you today one of the new album tracks, also fittingly named: “The Golden“.

The dynamism of the track is one of its strengths. It sears like a firebrand yet is also reflective. It mixes savagery with moodiness and majesty. And in its penetrating melodies, it becomes gloriously incandescent. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ZAPRUDER — “HALF STACHE MAN”

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Oct 302018
 

 

Three years ago we had the pleasure of premiering a song from Fall In Line, the debut album by the French band Zapruder, whose explosive blend of post-hardcore and mathcore adamantly refuses to fall in line. And now Zapruder are roaring back with a new self-titled album that will be released by Apathia Records on November 23rd, and once again we have a Zapruder premiere for you.

Where Fall In Line was a frequently harrowing and doom-shadowed experience, the new album is described as a remembrance of the band’s origins and a celebration of “friendship, fun, and rock ‘n’ roll”. As a further clue to what the album holds in store, it may help to know that it was recorded over 15 days that included “drinking, walking naked, and doing bodybuilding with bags filled with bottles”. But maybe a better clue is the cover art created by Chien Bleu. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: OMGEVING — “VII – STILLE VERNIETIGING”

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Oct 302018
 

 

Clear your mind of detritus, if you can. An open mind, freed from distractions, is the best preparation for experiencing the music we’re about to present. Closing your eyes is also advisable, or sitting in a dark space where the music alone will provide its own strange light behind your eyes, without competition.

Granted, our advice may be difficult to follow, so it’s worth mentioning that the music itself is the kind that tends to clear the mind by itself, and to replace whatever might have been there with other conceptions, creating a partnership in which the sounds induce visions that are in part Omgeving‘s creations and in part your own.

Actually, before you clear your mind, take a look at the cover art for this Dutch experimental project’s debut album Wijde Wijdte, even though what the Polish artist Kuba Kujawa has created will be difficult to forget once you’ve seen it: Continue reading »

AN NCS DUAL PREMIERE: COFFIN ROT AND MOLDER

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Oct 292018
 

 

On November 9th the new Maryland-based label Rotted Life Records will release a split by two death metal bands, both of whom are coming off of strong starts and hit it hard on this new joint release. Coffin Rot from Portland, Oregon, are returning after a self-titled demo released by the same label in April of this year, and Chicago-based Molder are following up on their Act of Revenge EP released this past February.

Both bands have recorded three tracks for the split, each of them performing two original songs and a cover. Here, we’re going to feature previously released original songs by each band AND we’re premiering each band’s cover track, with Coffin Rot putting their spin on “Hung, Drawn and Quartered” by Cancer, and Molder tearing through “Repulsive Death” by Morgue. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VISCERA/// — “MARAUDERS”

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Oct 252018
 

 

The first time I heard Agalloch’s “Not Unlike the Waves”, a song that still lives in my head like a cherished companion, I was awe-struck. Even 12 years and countless listens later, it still evokes a powerful emotional response, the kind that simultaneously puts my heart in my throat and also makes me feel as if it’s about to burst from my chest.

As a nearly inviolable rule, I resist the impulse to compare one band’s music to that of another, even though it can be a useful descriptive shorthand, because I fear  it might be misinterpreted as a suggestion that the music in question lacks originality, when (usually) that’s not what I would mean to imply at all. But in introducing the song we’re premiering from the new album by Viscera///, I’m violating that rule through the reference to “Not Unlike the Waves”, for what I hope is a good reason.

Allow me to explain. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: LETHERIA — “PESTCHRIST”

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Oct 252018
 

 

Over the 10 years from 1999 through 2009 the Finnish death metal band Letheria released seven demos, and then followed those with a trio of EPs from 2010 through 2014. At last, they’re bringing forth a debut album on November 23rd of this year through the insidious graces of Saturnal Records. Its title is Death – Principle.

Hatred and disgust seem to be the chief emotions that have inspired their creations, which you could easily infer from such titles on the new album as “Swinelord of Devouring and Fucking”, “With Tears of Urine You Will Cry His Name”, “Rotting God”, and the song we’re about to present — “Pestchrist“. Arrogance, scorn, and malignance live in the music as well, yet in this song you’re about to hear you’ll find a kind of terrible magnificence as well. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SPEARHEAD — “WOLVES OF THE KRYPTEIA, WE”

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Oct 242018
 

 

Pacifismi est Ignavia! So proclaims the title of Spearhead’s savage new album, Pacifism Is Cowardice, their first since 2011’s Theomachia and their fourth since 2005. The title is almost redundant; the music is unmistakably militant, undeniably vicious, relentlessly enraged and unforgiving.

The first track from the album which debuted last month, “Of Sun and Steel“, was a great reminder of how rabid, electrifying, and addictive this UK band’s black/death war-charges can be. They show no mercy on the song we’re bringing you today either — “Wolves of The Krypteia, We“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: GROSS MISCONDUCT — “EQUINOX”

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Oct 232018
 

 

Having been established in 1999, Gross Misconduct from Vancouver, British Columbia, are entering their second decade, and are on the verge of releasing their third album, Equinox, on November 2nd. Over the course of their first two full-lengths, The Process of Indoctrination (2007) and The Disconnect (2011), the band moved from high-octane thrash to a more progressive sound in the latter album. But seven years have passed since that last album was released, and in that time the band have further expanded the genre elements of their music.

The line-up of Gross Misconduct consists of guitarist/vocalist Jesse Brint, bassist Julian Kenchenten, drummer John Kurucz, and guitarist/vocalist David London. On Equinox, they’ve not only amalgamated the frantic thrash of the first album and the more progressive elements of their second one, they’ve also incorporated other hallmarks of extremity, which you’ll hear in the album’s dynamic title track that we’re premiering today. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: COFFIN BIRTH — “RED SKY SEASON”

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Oct 232018
 

 

Here’s a little mental exercise, in three steps. Step One: Gaze upon these names and the roles they perform in the new band named Coffin Birth:

Frank Calleja (BEHEADED) – Vocals
Giulio Moschini (HOUR OF PENANCE) – Guitar
Francesco Paoli (FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, ex-HOUR OF PENANCE) – Guitar
Marco Mastrobuono (HOUR OF PENANCE, BUFFALO GRILLZ) – Bass
Davide Billia (HOUR OF PENANCE, BEHEADED) – Drums

Step Two: Imagine what these men might do if they fully embraced the filthy, corrosive wonders of the HM 2 pedal in capturing, through a nasty amalgam of old school death metal, rock ‘n’ roll, and punk, the sensations of “being forced out of a dead body by its own gasses, drenched in the slime of bodily fluids and reeking stench”.

Step Three: Consider further what might happen if they did all this in a song about a post-apocalyptic scenario — with a title inspired by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SACRIFICIUM CARMEN — “HERMETICA”

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Oct 232018
 

 

After immediately making a name for themselves with their 2015 debut album, Ikuisen Tulen Kammiossa, the Finnish black metal horde Sacrificium Carmen are now roaring back with a new full-length named Hermetica, which like the debut will be released on November 16th by Saturnal Records. As the album’s title suggests, the band continue to draw their inspirations exclusively from Satanism and the realms of the occult. As the music demonstrates, they’ve moved from strength to further strength.

The album title track that we’re presenting today as the November 16 release date draws closer is a prime example of the band’s heightened ability to create music of thrilling ferocity and compulsive rhythmic power while lacing their violent volleys with alluring melodies that your mind will hang onto. Continue reading »

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