AN NCS PREMIERE: KALEIKR — “NEURODELIRIUM”

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Jan 172019
 

 

In extreme metal circles these days, when one thinks of Iceland one thinks of black metal. Draugsól was one of many Icelandic black metal bands who proved their worth, with a fine 2017 debut album named Volaða land (we learned more about the band and that album in a 2017 NCS interview). Subsequently, two of Draugsól’s three members (guitarist/bassist/vocalist Maximilian Klimko and drummer Kjartan Harðarson) chose to forge ahead under a new name — Kaleikr — and their first album Heart of Lead will be released on February 15th by Debemur Morti Productions.

The album is described as “a journey from sadness through despair to total mental collapse”. In mid-December DMP released a song from the album named “The Descent“, one of three tracks on the record that includes a guest performance by Árni Bergur Zoëga on viola. It appears second in the running order, following the opener “Beheld At Sunrise”, in which the viola also figures prominently before the album’s musical descent begins.

Through each successive track, the journey becomes more strange, dark, and unnerving as Kaleikr draw upon an array of stylistic tools as they see fit to portray their narrative in sound, without being constrained by the conventions of any one genre. Where the album begins at sunrise, it ends in perpetual sunset, with the record’s seventh track. But before reaching that striking culmination, the music surges to an apotheosis of intensity in the song we’re helping premiere today — “Neurodelirium“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ZOHAMAH — “BLACK CLOUD”

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Jan 172019
 

 

In the esoteric teachings of the Kabbalah, evil exists in multiple forms, and must be understood in different ways. We are told that one of the evil forces identified in Kabbalist mysticism is Zohamah, which means “darkness” or “pollution”, a form of evil that results in kilkul (or spiritual damage). Zohamah is also the name taken by a mysterious Israeli band, the work of a single individual whose initials are H.M. (although a full line-up has been assembled in preparation for live performances).

Zohamah’s first recorded output was a 2017 EP named Manic Depression, and now there’s a debut album. Entitled Spread My Ashes, it will be released by Redefining Darkness Records on February 1st. “Emptiness“, a single that is now included on the album, was first released in 2017, and today we present a second track from the album — “Black Cloud“. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: CRYPTERIA — “CORRUPTED TEXT”

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Jan 162019
 

 

We have an out-of-the-ordinary lyric video to present today. The subject matter will be familiar to fans of extreme metal, since at a very high level it concerns the deluding and damaging effects of religious teachings, but the inspirations for the lyrics and their approach to the subject matter isn’t run-of-the-mill at all.

The song that’s presented through the video is “Corrupted Text“, and it appears on the self-titled debut album by the Floridian death metal band Crypteria, which was released last fall and is recommended for fans of Decapitated, Morbid Angel, Soreption, Dyscarnate, and Aborted.

The band’s name is itself thought-provoking, since it refers to the Spartan secret police, a state institution that (as the band explain) “suppressed opposition and controlled the servile Helot population of Sparta”, maintaining order through brutal means. And while Crypteria (the band) didn’t choose the name as an endorsement of merciless repression, their music is undeniably brutal. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HORRISONOUS — “NOURISHMENT THROUGH EXCREMENT”

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Jan 152019
 

 

Gaze upon the grotesque, brain-eating monstrosity depicted in the cover art. Reflect upon the name of the album, A Culinary Cacophony, as well as some of the song titles — such amusing formulations as “Perpetual Mincing”, “Flesh Presented For Orgasmic Torment”, “Crispy Chunks of the Obese”, “The Number of the Feast”, and the delectable “Nourishment Through Excrement“, which is the track we’re presenting today.

It’s all so over-the-top that it might make you wonder just how serious Horrisonous are about what they’re doing, or conceivably might lead you to suspect that their music is some kind of gore-fetished brutal death metal.

So, let’s be clear: There is indeed a grotesque, macabre atmosphere to the brand of death metal that this Australian band have crafted, but the music is apocalyptically doomed, remorselessly destructive, and no joke at all. The fact that the line-up consists of current or former members of such bands as Temple Nightside, Backyard Mortuary, The Slow Death, Illimitable Dolor, and Pestilential Shadows might be enough to clue you in, but of course the best evidence is the music itself. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: WRETCHED FATE — “WRETCHED FATE”

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Jan 152019
 

 

It has become so commonplace as to be clichéd for death metal bands and labels to claim that their music, though immersed in old-school traditions, nevertheless brings something new to the table — and it rarely proves to be true. Much of the time, the alleged up-dating consists of little more than more modern production techniques, which sometimes only succeeds in robbing the music of the rough and raw power it once had. And particularly in the case of old school Swedish death metal, there’s not much you can do to vary the sound without breaking the chain that links the music to its origins.

The Swedish band Wretched Fate, on the other hand, really have found a sweet spot, indulging a genuine passion for death metal of the past, but in a way that doesn’t sound formulaic. They’ve undeniably caught the sound and spirit of the giants on whose shoulders they stand, but have injected their songs with a fieriness and flair that we rarely encounter in the music of groups whose inspirations are so firmly rooted in an era that’s now nearly three decades old. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: OF HATRED SPAWN — “SEVERED LIMB CONVULSION” (DRUM PLAYTHROUGH)

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Jan 142019
 

 

Man, have we got a treat for you today, the kind of treat that’s sure to uncork your adrenal glands and get your blood racing. The song by Toronto-based Of Hatred Spawn that’s featured in the video we’re presenting is a big part of what triggers that response, but just watching drummer JJ Tartaglia (Skull Fist) do his thing behind the kit is equally electrifying.

That song, “Severed Limb Convulsion“, comes from this ferocious death metal band’s self-titled debut album, which was released by Boonsdale Records on December 21, 2018. The same song was also the subject of a previously released guitar-playthrough video featuring the performance of JJ‘s brother Remy Tartaglia (ex-Unbidden). The band’s line-up is completed by bassist Oscar Rangel (ex-Annihilator) and vocalist Matt “Coldcuts” Collacott. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VILE APPARITION — “REPULSIVE DESIRE”

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Jan 112019
 

 

Depravity Ordained is the name of the debut album by Vile Apparition from Melbourne, Australia, which will be released by Memento Mori on January 21st — and the music is indeed depraved, delivering an especially brutish and electrifying form of old-school death metal malignancy.

But before we get to the music — a new excerpt of which we’re presenting today — how about that metal AF cover art?!? Immediately attention-grabbing, it’s also the kind of macabre rendering that stays with you, and will likely lure listeners into this music just as effectively as any words might do. Kudos to Chaostouched for this glorious creation! And now, on to the music… Continue reading »

EXPERIOR OBSCURA: “AWAKE, WAKING!”

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Jan 112019
 

 

The Italian black metal band Malvento has been a continuing source of fascination over the course of four albums and numerous splits as their esoteric musical formulations have morphed and evolved over a career that now spans more than 20 years. We have had the fiendish pleasure of premiering some of that band’s more recent twisted creations, and remain eager (and perhaps a bit fearful) to discover what they might do next. In the meantime, we’ve learned that Malvento guitarist Nefastus is behind a solo project called Experior Obscura, which is itself a source of chilling fascination.

A little more than two years ago Experior Obscura self-released in digital form a debut album named Iter in Nebula (on which Nefastus was aided by drummer “R“), and followed that in 2017 with a split release in partnership with Malvento entitled Abyssus Abyssum Invocat, which included two of the tracks from Iter In Nebula. That split took physical form as a cassette tape, but the quantities were so limited that only a few handfuls of people were able to draw it within their clutches.

In short, Experior Obscura, true to its name, has dwelled in a shadowed obscurity. But its existence is about to become less obscure, because the UK-based label Third I Rex, whose selections have proven to be persistently intriguing, will be releasing Iter In Nebula next month, both digitally and in a limited CD digipack edition. That will undoubtedly expose Experior Obscura‘s diabolical talents to a wider audience, and we’re doing our own part to advance that cause today by presenting the stream of a track named “Awake, Waking!“ Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: THE WANDERING ASCETIC — “I SING THE BODY ELECTRIC”

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Jan 102019
 

 

We have made no secret at this site of our long-standing admiration for the long-running Singaporean “Vedic Metal” band Rudra. And it was the wonderful memories of Rudra’s creations that peaked our interest in The Wandering Ascetic, another Singapore-based band whose line-up includes members of Rudra (vocalist Kathir and guitarist Vinod) along with bassist Jayakumar and drummer Kannan K.

The Wandering Ascetic‘s debut album, Crimson, reflects the compositional skill of Rudra, but pursues a stylistic course that’s different, though not without its own exotic accents. The album will be released on February 12th by Transcending Obscurity Asia, and today we present the second “single” from the album, a track named “I Sing the Body Electric“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: PULCHRA MORTE — “SHADOWS FROM THE CROSS”

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Jan 092019
 

 

The American death/doom band Pulchra Morte (“beautiful death”) began to take shape in 2017 through the collaboration of vocalist Jason Barron, drummer/backing vocalist Clayton Gore, and guitarist Jeffrey Breden. Eventually they were joined by bassist Dylan Kilgore and guitarist Jarrett Pritchard, who also recorded the band’s new album, Divina Autem Et Aniles, adding it to a long list of other records he has produced and engineered (for such bands as 1349, Goatwhore, Wolvhammer, Gruesome, Exhumed, and Brutality).

But the talents brought to bear on the creation of Divina Autem Et Aniles don’t end with that quintet of artists (who collectively are current or former members of Wolvhammer, Eulogy, Harkonin, and Withered, among others). The album also includes the vocal talents of former Eulogy participant Heather Dykstra, the performance of cellist Naarah Strokosch, and additional backing vocals by Tor Stavenes (1349, Svart Lotus); it was mastered by Chris Common (Tribulation, Primordial, Exhumed, Gruesome); and it features cover art by Jordan Barlow (Goatwhore, Haarp, Psychon Vex).

We suspect all these credits will have seized your attention by now, but the payoff (of course) is in the music, and we have a hefty downpayment for you today in a premiere stream of the album’s eighth track (out of 10), “Shadows From the Cross“. Continue reading »

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