AN NCS PREMIERE: CONTRARIAN — “EXORCISM”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Dec 212018
 

 

As their name suggests, Contrarian refuse to be hemmed in by convention. Their vision of death metal as revealed in the new album Their Worm Never Dies pays homage to hallowed traditions, perhaps most especially the more progressive-minded stylings of the great Chuck Schuldiner, but their intricate compositions take the sounds in unexpected directions, creating an alchemical amalgam of visceral viciousness, eye-popping technicality, brain-whirling progressive extravagance, and mesmerizing atmosphere.

Such an unusual and demanding formulation might strain the capabilities of most musicians to the breaking point, but in the case of Contrarian, this convergence of sounds seems entirely natural and fluid, a forward-thinking approach that’s convincing even if eccentric — an inspired evolution of  ’90s progressive death metal into the modern age. Not surprisingly, it’s the kind of achievement that wouldn’t have been possible without a shared vision among the band’s members, and the possession of veteran talent, which is what Contrarian’s line-up brings to the table. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: COLOSSUS FALL — “DARKNESS SWIRLED AROUND US”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Dec 212018
 

 

The Swiss band Colossus Fall are making their first appearance at our site today, but they’re hardly new to the scene, having previously released a 2012 EP (Sempervirens), a 2013 split-vinyl with Gacys Threads, and a 2015 debut album (Hidden Into Details), and having performed more than 100 shows in Europe, supporting such high-profile bands as Agnostic Front, Walls of Jericho, Terror, Neurosis, Clutch, and Nostromo. Now, they have a second album named Earthbeat on the horizon, which is set for release by Tenacity Music on January 25th, and that furnishes the occasion for our premiere of a new song: “Darkness Swirled Around Us“.

With a backbone of hard-hitting metallic hardcore, Colossus Fall bring other ingredients into play, including thrash and sludge. This explosive new track bounces and races, bruises and yet is buoyant. It’s a ticket straight to headbang city, it’s brazenly passionate, and it proves to be highly infectious. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VEILBURNER: “AGONY ON REPEAT”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
Dec 202018
 

 

Transcending Obscurity Records has been spreading around premieres from the new album by Veilburner in the run-up to its December 28 release, having already deployed three tracks through Toilet Ov Hell, Invisible Oranges, and Heavy Blog Is Heavy. We have yet another one for you today, and even though we come at the end of the line, there’s still a chance that some of you haven’t yet been exposed to the mind-altering effects of this Pennsylvania duo’s latest display of sonic alchemy. If so, now’s your chance.

And by the way, those aren’t empty words — this new album, A Sire To The Ghouls Of Lunacy, really is a thoroughly bewildering yet completely enthralling experience, an experimental rendering of black/death metal that’s not quite like anything else you’ve probably come across this year, and not one you’ll soon forget. It sends shivers down the spine, sets off fireworks behind the eyes, and spins the mind like a flaming top on the verge of careening into smithereens or taking flight like a rocket. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: THE SCARS IN PNEUMA — “SOULS ARE BURNING”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Dec 202018
 

 

On February 8th of next year, Promethean Fire (a side-label of Kolony Records focused on black metal) will release The Path of Seven Sorrows, the debut album of the Italian band The Scars In Pneuma. Originally started in early 2017 as the solo project of vocalist/guitarist/bassist Lorenzo Marchello, the line-up was expanded with the addition of guitarist Francesco Lupi and drummer Daniele Valseriati later that same year.

While black metal forms the backbone for Marchello’s compositions, the music morphs into different sonic shapes through the incorporation of ingredients drawn from death metal and doom, and a favoritism for evocative melodies. In other words, strict genre conventions don’t hold much influence here, as you’ll soon discover through our premiere of a song from the new album named “Souls Are Burning“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ULVDALIR — “MUSIC OF COLD SPHERES”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Dec 202018
 

 

With only 11 days left in the old year we’re now being hit by an onslaught of advance tracks from albums destined for release early in the new one. There’s always a risk that excellent records released at the end of the year will be overlooked, and perhaps an equal risk that albums released in the early days of 2019 may be forgotten when year-end lists are assembled next December. However, I’m betting that the new one by the Russian black metal band Ulvdalir, which is set for release by Iron Bonehead Productions on January 25th, won’t be forgotten — it’s just too damned magnificent!

This new full-length, …of Death Eternal, is Ulvdalir‘s fourth album, and their first in eight years. The first sign of its startling extravagance was a song named “Swords of Belial” that surfaced last month, and now we present a second sign, in the form of “Music of Cold Spheres“. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: DEFORMATORY — “MYIASIS”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Dec 192018
 

 

Today — December 19th — CDN Records will release Bilateral Carnage, a new 7″ vinyl split release by a pair of Canadian death metal bands, Ottawa-based Deformatory and Toronto’s Blood of Christ. Deformatory‘s brutal contribution to the split is a track called “Myiasis“, and today we present an unusual music video for the track to accompany the sonic assault.

The song is described as one that “unravels the psychosis of retribution” — dissecting “a victim’s penalty for betrayal in a sickening tale of prolonged suffering”, and it provides a preview of Deformatory‘s direction on their next album, which we’re expecting at some point in 2019. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): VETALA — “RETARDED NECRO DEMENTIAL HOLE”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  6 Responses »
Dec 192018
 

 

“This album REALLY isn’t for you!” So states the PR material for the new album on the Harvest of Death label by the duo of unrepentant Portuguese extremists in Vetala. The wordsmith in question wasn’t referring to me in particular (at least I don’t think so), but to some broad swath of “critics” who might take offense at an album named Retarded Necro Demential Hole and whose utter depravity could be perceived as a way of taking a shit on good taste and “any and all conceptions of ‘black metal'”.

Of course, I took that as a dare. I mean, most of you know the range of extreme metal that typically forms my own bread and rancid butter. How could it possibly be too transgressive or disgusting for me to swallow? Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: BEATEN TO DEATH — “HAVREGUBBENS DOLK”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Dec 182018
 

 

When last we checked in with Norway’s Beaten To Death the year was 2015 and the band were on the brink of releasing their third album, Unplugged, which our reviewer Austin Weber called “the rarest kind of grind release” — “a record that’s memorable from start to finish”, with unusual vocals and melodic components that floated above the thrashing chaos and groovesome chugs in a way that made the music unusually atmospheric and gave it staying power.

Now these Oslo-based grind innovators are returning to the field of battle beatings with a new album named Agronomicon, which will be digitally released by Mas-Kina Recordings on Christmas Eve and on CD and LP come January 4th. The band have begun releasing something new on a daily basis leading up to the release, and today we bring you the latest offering, a track called “Havregubbens Dolk“. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): WAN — “GAMMAL ÄR ÄLDST”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
Dec 182018
 

 

If you are new to the sound of the Swedish black metal band WAN, you could make some good inferences about the nature of their music from the titles of their first three albums — Wolves of the North (2010), Enjoy the Filth (2013), and Wan Way To Hell (2017) — not to mention their 2015 split, Necroholic. And if those clues aren’t convincing enough, a list of influences that includes Bathory, Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, Darkthrone, Aura Noir, Nifelheim, Old, and Bestial Mockery should provide further guidance.

But there’s no need to engage in guessing games today, because we have new music from WAN to share with you that emblazons their brand like hot iron on the flesh, in a way that will appeal to the lust of their existing fans and provide a compelling introduction to new ones. What you’re about to hear is WAN’s new EP, Gammal är äldst (“Old is the oldest” in English), which is set for release by Carnal Records on December 21st. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): STRANGULIATORIUS — “ROPE, SOAP, TABOURET”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  3 Responses »
Dec 172018
 

 

What, you may ask, is a tabouret? And what does it have to do with rope and soap, or for that matter with death metal? A partial answer can be found at the end of this writing, but much of this fine new album’s title might still remain a mystery. There is, however, no mystery about why the music is so damned good. One listen will prove that, which is what we’re giving you the chance to experience today.

Unlike the words in the album title, Stranguliatorius isn’t one you’ll find in the dictionary, though in its own mouth-mutilating way it’s just as clever and intriguing as the album’s name. The Lithuanian barbarians who chose it as their appellation are damned clever songwriters, too, though it must be said (as their label reports) that they are thirsty for blood and hungry for flesh. Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries