AN NCS PREMIERE: ASSUMPTION — “LIBERATION”

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Mar 142018
 

 

With a 2012 demo (Mosaic of the Distant Dominion) and a 2015 EP (The Three Appearances) behind them, the Italian doom/death band Assumption are returning with a strikingly good debut album. Entitled Absconditus, it will be jointly released on April 20 by Everlasting Spew Records and Sentient Ruin Laboratories. And today we have a couple of firsts for you — the first disclosure of the album’s memorable cover art by the talented Lauri Laaksonen (Convocation, Desolate Shrine), and the first song premiere from the album, which happens to be the expoansive opening track, “Liberation“.

At more than 15 minutes in length, it is indeed a sprawling saga, but one that draws the listener ever deeper into its powerful spell as the minutes pass. Losing interest isn’t a risk here… but losing your bearings on what passes for the reality around you definitely is. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: CARDIAC ARREST — “BECOME THE PAIN”

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Mar 142018
 

 

We’ve already raved like lunatics about the first song released from the new album by Chicago’s Cardiac Arrest, and now we have an excuse to rave some more because we’re premiering another track from their monstrous new album, A Parallel Dimension of Despair. The album will be released on April 23rd by the Spanish label Memento Mori.

This is Cardiac Arrest’s sixth album in a career that began in the late ’90s, with original guitarist and vocalist Adam Scott still at the helm. The years have passed, other members have come and gone, but it’s obvious from this new album that the spirit of morbid, rotting death is alive and well in the black souls of the four slaughterers who are now continuing to carry the torch forward. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE: WITCHTRIP — “COSMIC CAULDRON”

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Mar 142018
 

 

We were told that the Canadian band Witchtrip includes all the members of Winnipeg’s Occvlt Hand other than the vocalist — so, basically the same band with a different singer. That was reason enough to check out the two tracks on Witchtrip’s debut EP, Cosmic Cauldron, because we were big fans of Occvlt Hand’s 2017 album, Not Everyone Deserves A Happy Ending. We gleefully premiered a track from that album, and put that same track on our list of 2017’s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs.

Now, one would expect that Witchtrip’s music would be different from Occvlt Hand’s, despite the significant overlap in members. Otherwise, why choose a different name? And in fact, the music is quite different. And perhaps it should also come as no surprise that the music is nevertheless really, really good — as you’re about to discover for yourselves through our premiere of Cosmic Cauldron in advance of its release on March 16th by Possessed Records. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DE PROFUNDIS — “BASTARD SONS OF ABRAHAM”

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Mar 132018
 

 

The rage and disgust displayed in the trappings of the new De Profundis album are palpable, from the album title to the song titles, from the cover art by Alex Tartsus to the band’s own explanation of the album’s conceptual focus: “The Blinding Light of Faith is an album about three of the most merciless and bloodthirsty institutions in human history. There is no nation or people on this earth who haven’t suffered under the savagery of at least one of the Abrahamic religions and to reflect that suffering we have made the heaviest, most aggressive record of our career.”

That sense of condemnation and anger are right up-front in the title of the song we’re bringing you today: “Bastard Sons of Abraham“. And it is indeed a heavy, aggressive song. But it’s not a brooding or bitter piece of music. To the contrary, it’s so supercharged with speed and sparkling vitality that it’s likely to inspire a kind of fierce, fist-pumping joy in those who hear it. It’s also the kind of song that will make guitar nerds slobber uncontrollably. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ABOLISHMENT OF FLESH — “INHUMAN ANATOMY”

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Mar 082018
 

 

The Texas death metal band Abolishment of Flesh began life in 2006 under the name Abolishment, but after releasing a demo and a 2008 album the name was changed, and on April 20th Unholy Anarchy will release the first full-length under the band’s current name. Entitled The Inhuman Condition, it’s an 11-track assault that comes highly recommended for fans of Cattle Decapitation and Suffocation.

Today we’re bringing you an exclusive stream of the album’s opening track, “Inhuman Anatomy“. It will require only about three minutes of your time, but it will nonetheless leave you battered and breathless. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: NONE — “CORRODED”

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Mar 072018
 

 

For those of us who live in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, the damp forests and snow-covered mountains are ever-present. Even when they’re not in the forefront of your mind, they loom in the distance. To be in the midst of them, particularly in the winter when mist and fog blur their hard lines and the cold eats into the skin, is both an awe-inspiring and a haunting experience… and a relief. In the midst of that communion you can think, “at least we haven’t fucked this up yet.”

Many musicians who’ve spent time in the PNW are drawn to capture such sensations, or they draw inspiration from them (though of course many are just as prone to make the kind of forgettable music you can hear on the radio any damned place). Some are more successful than others in channeling the gloom, the grandeur, and the isolation of these ancient places that are heedless of our own fleeting presence yet can lend us their strength, or pronounce their condemnation. The Oregon group NONE do that very, very well. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DEATHSPIRAL OF INHERITED SUFFERING — “BLISS INFERNO / LE GRAND NÉANT” (AND A REVIEW OF “METAMORPHOSPHOROS”)

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Mar 062018
 

 

Metamorphosphoros is one of those rare splits in which the participating bands collaborated in the creation of a conceptually integrated sequence of songs, in this case a musical vision that’s devoted to “Theion“, the divine fires of transformation — the medium for a purifying immolation of the self, bringing about a Descent into the abyss, and an Ascent and eternal Transcendence through Death.

The participants in this album-length cathartic experience are three underground black metal bands from different countries: Precaria (Mexico), Deathspiral of Inherited Suffering (U.S.), and Dominus Ira (Russia). The album will be released by the distinctive I, Voidhanger Records on March 30, and today we’re fortunate to host the premiere of one of the album’s ten tracks — an offering by Deathspiral of Inherited Suffering (“DIS“) entitled “Bliss Inferno / Le Grand Néant“. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): AFSKY — “SORG”

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Mar 052018
 

 

Sorg is the debut album of the Danish black metal band Afsky, and it is a penetrating and devastating exploration of varying shades of sorrow. It will be released on CD and digitally by Vendetta Records on March 9, with a vinyl edition scheduled for April 7 — but we have a full stream of the album for you now.

For those who may be new to Afsky, it is the solo project of Ole Luk, who is also a member of the Danish black metal band Solbrud. Fittingly, the name he chose for this project means “disgust” or “detest” in Danish, though as you’ll discover, the emotional resonance of the music embraces other powerful feelings as well. Continue reading »

AN NCS SPLIT PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): CARCINOMA AND ABYSSAL — “APANTHROPINIZATION

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Mar 022018
 

 

For those with a strong taste for the soul-shuddering power of atmospheric black/death/doom metal, one of the best albums of the year so far comes in the form of the split that it’s our privilege to premiere today. Joining forces in Apanthropinization are two striking UK bands, each providing their own distinctive and terrifying musical explorations of the void that lurks within us and that looms from without: Carcinoma and Abyssal.

This album-length split will be released on CD and as a digital download on March 30th by Goatprayer Records, and it is a record that absolutely should not be missed. Still caught up in the throes of what each band has done here, I’ve chosen to spill many words about this split, but of course no one would blame you for skipping to the bottom (where you’ll also find a pre-oirder link) and pressing Play without delay. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE: ZIGGURAT — “RITUAL MIASMA”

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Mar 012018
 

 

In September of last year I came across a song with the title of  “דִּבּוּק“ from Ritual Miasma, the debut EP of an Israeli duo named Ziggurat. It made an immediate impact, and eventually was chosen for our list of 2017’s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs. But it was not the only strong point on Ritual Miasma. The entire EP proved to be an enormously compelling experience (it appeared on other year-end lists, including CVLT Nation’s top nine death/doom releases of 2017), and a sign that Ziggurat’s future endeavors would be worth watching very closely.

Ritual Miasma was initially released last October on cassette tape by Caligari Records, but Sweden’s Blood Harvest Records is about to follow that with a release of the EP in a digipack CD edition and on vinyl… and that gives us a reason to sing the praises of Ritual Miasma one more time, and to provide a stream of all five tracks for those of you who may just be discovering the band. Continue reading »

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