AN NCS EP PREMIERE: VINTERBRIS — “AD ABSURDUM” (AND A VIDEO BY KIM HOLM)

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
May 232017
 

 

We have a double-premiere for you in this post, both of which have stirred excitement here at the NCS metallic island. The first of these is the stream of a powerful new two-song EP by the Norwegian melodic black metal band Vinterbris, set for release on June 6th, the title of which is Ad Absurdum. And the second, which was inspired by the first, is a time-lapse video of the wonderful Norwegian artist Kim Holm that depicts his creation of the EP’s evocative wrap-around cover art.

In 2014 we wrote repeatedly about Vinterbris‘ superb second album Solace. What first drew our attention to the album even before hearing the music was the artwork that Kim Holm created for that album. In addition to a cover piece, Holm created separate illustrations for each song on the album (which we collected in one place here). Having been lured into the album by this artwork, we found the music to be a treasure as well. We even included a song from Solace on our list of 2014’s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs.

And now we will face the challenge of deciding which of these two new songs to pick for the 2017 edition of that list — because both songs surge with infectious energy, both of them immediately appealing at the first listen, and both of them persistently boiling in the listener’s mind long after they end. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SUFFERING HOUR — “IN PASSING ASCENSION”

 Premieres  7 Responses »
May 222017
 

 

Suffering Hour’s In Passing Ascension is the kind of debut album that makes an immediate positive impact because it so convincingly displays the band’s sure-handed mastery of their own sound, and because it’s a soundscape that’s distinctive rather than a re-treading of long-familiar territory.

At a very high level, the album inventively fuses dissonant black metal and harrowing death metal to create an experience that’s both eerily atmospheric and punishingly heavy, full of fire-storming ferocity and skin-shivering otherworldliness — and it somehow manages to be quite memorable as well as persistently unsettling. It’s our pleasure to bring you a full stream of the album today, in advance of its release by Blood Harvest on May 26th. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: SCUORN — “SEPEITHOS”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
May 222017
 

 

When I first began listening to the music of Parthenope, the debut album by the Neapolitan metal band Scuorn that was released earlier this year, I wrote “It’s a truly eye-opening offering of epic symphonic black metal — majestic, bombastic, ferocious, theatrical, panoramic, richly textured, richly rewarding. I felt like giving a standing ovation at the end.” And the same can be said of the specific album track “Sepeithos“, which is the subject of a music video that we’re helping to premiere today.

The video was directed by Portuguese artist Gullherme Henriques Silva (Belphegor, Noctem, Nargaroth) and filmed by Mirco Condello (Fastforward Filming) during Scuorn’s latest show of the “Parthenope Italian Tour 2017” at Alchemica Music Club in Bologna, Italy. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: DFB — “DOMINO”

 Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres  No Responses »
May 192017
 

 

L.A.-based Dylan Furr began making music as a solo artist, releasing two instrumental albums under his own name. For the third album (Juxtaposition) he added his own vocals, but then re-recorded it with new vocalist Elijah Arnold. Because the band is now no longer a completely solo effort, the project has taken on a new name — DFB.

On July 7, Famined Records will release a new DFB EP named Perspective, and what we have for you today is a lyric video for a song from Perspective named “Domino“. Continue reading »

ALBUM STREAM: FRACTAL GENERATOR — “APOTHEOSYNTHESIS”

 Premieres  No Responses »
May 192017
 

 

Sometimes the name that a band chooses for itself can be a significant clue to the kind of music they make. The name Fractal Generator sounds kind of cybernetic and machine-like, although fractal repeating patterns across multiple scales of size are evident in nature as well as mathematics. But then consider further that the members of this band from Sudbury in Ontario, Canada, identify themselves by number: 040118180514 (bass, vocals), 040114090512 (drums), and 102119200914 (guitar, vocals). And then consider that the name of their debut album is Apotheosynthesis.

The album was originally self-released by the band in 2015, but it has now been embraced by Everlasting Spew Records, which is releasing it on CD and digitally today (May 19th). To help spread the word, we’re bringing you a full stream of the album in video form. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: BARROWS — “ZENITH”

 Premieres  No Responses »
May 182017
 

 

We’re about to fly off all of our site’s brutally well-beaten paths, and then keep soaring up and out, sort of like the leaping figure on the attention-grabbing cover of Barrows‘ new album Obsidion, which will be released on May 26th through the German label Tonzonen Records. The song from that album we’re bringing you today is “Zenith“.

This isn’t one of our infrequent exceptions to the rule proclaimed in our site’s name, because there is no singing at all on “Zenith“, or anywhere else on Obsidion. And bear that in mind as you further consider that “Zenith” is almost 13 minutes long, and includes only the barest hints of metal. What, you may ask yourself, could possibly hold my attention? Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): SOULSKINNER — “DESCENT TO ABADDON”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  2 Responses »
May 172017
 

 

Soulskinner is a Greek death metal band with a storied history, one that stretches back to 1997 when the band was formed under the name Terra Tenebrae. Although line-up changes have occurred, the band is still anchored by vocalist Gothmog and guitarist Bill Zobolas (“EL“), both of whom have also been fixtures in the ranks of Thou Art Lord, and for their new fourth album they’re joined by drummer Kostas Savvidis, guitarist Spyros Triantafyllou, and bassist Costas Analytis.

That new fourth album is Descent To Abaddon, and in advance of its May 22nd release by Xtreem Music, we have a stream of the entire album for your enjoyment. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: THE THIRTEENTH SUN — “UNIVERSUS”

 Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres  2 Responses »
May 172017
 

 

Stardust is the debut album of the Romanian band The Thirteenth Sun, released last week by Aural Music. In multiple ways, the album represents a journey of exploration, using an escape from the confines of earth and a venturing into the limitless night sky as a metaphor for an exploration of one’s self, free of the constraints of routine and any settled expectations about the possibilities of what may lie ahead. The name the band chose for themselves and the title they picked for the album manifest the concept, as does the striking and memorable cover art by Costin Chioreanu. But of course the concept is reflected most strongly in the music itself.

The music on Stardust is not all the same, although there are unifying ingredients that pass through the album. The album’s own journey begins with a track named “Universus“, and it’s the subject of an animated video created by Costin Chioreanu that provides a fascinating visual companion to the music, and we’re delighted to premiere it below. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: CHAOS — “INDOCTRINATION”

 Premieres  No Responses »
May 162017
 

 

Now THAT is a hell of an album cover, a vivid and vicious visual imagining of the ideas that come to mind when you read the band’s name — Chaos — and the album’s title, All Against All. And as it turns out, that rendition of a mountainous horde of wolves turning on each other in a lethal frenzy is a fine match for the music as well.

All Against All is the second album by the Indian thrash band Chaos, which is set for release on June 15th. From that album we bring you the premiere of a track named “Indoctrination“, and it’s such a explosive adrenaline rush that unless you’ve recently fallen into a comatose state it will make you feel like you’ve suddenly materialized in the midst of that wolven wildness on the cover. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ONRYŌ – “ONI”

 Premieres  No Responses »
May 152017
 

 

Mūto is the name of the debut EP by an Italian deathgrind/mathcore band named Onryō. We are told that Mūto is a Latin word for mutation, a reference to change and transformation. Of the four tracks on the EP, “Oni” is the first one, and it’s the one we’re introducing today.

Onryō’s line-up includes drummer Giulio Galati from Hideous Divinity, and he makes his presence felt on “Oni”, but he’s not the only one who delivers the goods on this song. Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries