AN NCS PREMIERE: PAIN TANK — “DRIVING BACK THE OCCUPIER”

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Mar 032017
 

 

If you’re not disgusted and furious about the world we’re living in, then you’ve done a much better job than I have in numbing, distracting, or blinding yourself to what’s all around us. Living in a perpetual state of fury and disgust isn’t the best recipe for mental health, of course, but trying to suppress it or completely salve it over with a delusional balm isn’t healthy either. It needs to be expressed, and indulging those feelings through music is at least better than some other ways I can think of.

Which brings me to Pain Tank. And man, there’s a name that’s tailor-made for the music they’ve created on their debut album, 97,901,726 Confirmed Kills, which will be released on March 17th through their own independent label Edgewood Arsenal Records. They express pain — and make you feel the pain — with the assaulting force of a tank attack. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: NORDLAND — “A BURNING OF IDOLS”

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Mar 032017
 

 

I would guess that most of us have favorite metal labels whose releases we check out, and maybe even buy, automatically. We’ve figured out over time that certain labels tend to sign quality bands whose music lines up well with our own tastes. Especially over the last year, and for precisely that reason, I’ve gotten into the habit of reflexively checking out new releases by Russia’s Satanath Records and its Belarusian affiliate, Symbol of Domination (e-mail alerts from Bandcamp make that easy). And so when I got a Bandcamp alert about two weeks ago concerning a new Satanath release by the UK’s Nordland, I visited the page without delay — and it wasn’t long before I included the song I found there in an NCS feature on new music.

That song, “Rites of Dawn”, is one of three on a Nordland album named European Paganism, which Satanath will be co-releasing with More Hate Productions on March 25. I’m happy to tell you that we’ve now been given the opportunity to premiere a second song from the album, “A Burning of Idols“. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: APOTHESARY — “ELIZABETH”

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Mar 022017
 

 

When we last devoted attention to San Francisco’s Apothesary in these pages it was Christmas Day 2015, and the occasion was our premiere of a single by the band named “1976”, which later appeared on the band’s killer 2016 EP, Sensory Overload. And now we have the pleasure of premiering a video for another song from that EP — “Elizabeth“.

The song itself is a barn-burner, a rushing, pulsating death/thrash blast that gets the blood pumping, with ferocious vocals, battering grooves, fret-burning guitar work, a blistering solo, and a melody that rings in the head well after the song ends. And the video is an unpredictable head-spinner, too. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: CURSE OF DENIAL — “PAWNS IN CHESS”

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Mar 022017
 

 

In mid-January we brought you the premiere of a video for “Tower of Silence”, one of the tracks on The 13th Sign, which is the debut album by Cleveland’s Curse of Denial. Now we bring you another video for another powerful track from the record — “Pawns in Chess“.

The 13th Sign was released on February 3 by Redefining Darkness Records, and the video for “Pawns in Chess” is a reminder of what a viscerally powerful album it is. And like the video for “Tower of Silence”, this new one is a fitting visual match for the music — which pulls no punches. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: ANOMALIE — “VISION I: TOWARDS THE SUN”

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Mar 022017
 

 

Visions is the third album by Anomalie, set for release on March 17th by Art of Propaganda, and it is the most distinctive, the most ambitious, and the most engrossing and enthralling Anomalie album yet. It’s our pleasure today to bring you the premiere of a video for the album’s opening track, “Vision I: Towards the Sun“.

Something about a wood-burning fire under a night sky is spellbinding, perhaps because it invokes ancient memories from our most distant and primitive ancestral past. The sight of flames draws us in, and sends our minds wandering. Time passes, without our even realizing it. The experience can be mystical. It’s thus entirely fitting that the video you’re about to see puts the song in such a setting — because the song itself draws the listener in, fires the imagination, and becomes a mystical experience. The time passes without realizing it. Continue reading »

AN NCS SPLIT PREMIERE: MINDFUL OF PRIPYAT AND STENCH OF PROFIT — “NEW DOOMSDAY ORCHESTRATION”

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Mar 012017
 

 

If you’ve been paying close attention to the more violent attractions at our putrid site, then you will already be aware of New Doomsday Orchestration, the forthcoming split release by Italian grind bands Mindful of Pripyat and Stench of Profit. We have previously premiered songs from each band’s side of this electrifying split, but now it’s our sinister pleasure to bring you a full stream of the split on the day of its official release by Everlasting Spew Records — preceded by still more demented introductory words of praise.

MINDFUL OF PRIPYAT

The Font of All Human Knowledge tells us that Pripyat is a ghost town in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, a town whose inhabitants were evacuated in a frenzy the day after the disaster at the Chernobyl plant. It has figured in works of literature, film, television, and of course music. And the Milanese band whose 9 tracks launch this split assure that we will remain mindful of its fate. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): K.L.L.K. — “LE BRASIER DES MONDES”

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Feb 282017
 

 

Le Brasier des Mondes is the debut album of the French band K.L.L.K. It will be released on March 3 by Caligari Records on both tape and CD, with different artwork for each (the CD art is above, the tape art is below). Today we have for you all the music on the album, presented as a continuous stream without breaks between the tracks, which is undoubtedly the best way to hear it — because it’s a completely immersive, mind-altering, and unsettling experience whose power is at its zenith when heard straight through from beginning to end.

The band’s last release was the 2015 EP Between the First Heliocentric Wind and the Great Devourer of Light, which itself followed a pair of demos and a compilation. Unfortunately I can’t compare the album to those previous works because I haven’t yet heard them. So the following words provide an introduction to Le Brasier des Mondes, standing alone. This is how the band describe the conceptual basis for the album: Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: LOOKING FOR AN ANSWER — “REDENCION”

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Feb 282017
 

 

Man, what a rush! The first time I pressed play on the new song you’re about to hear from the Spanish death/grind band Looking For An Answer, I thought I’d detonated a bomb. Or been hit by a semi-truck without warning. I thought about not telling you anything about the song so you would experience the same sense of shock and awe, but I don’t have enough self-control, or possibly any at all.

The track’s name is “Redencion” and it comes from Dios Carne, the first full-length from Looking For An Answer in six years. The album will be released by Willowtip on April 28. Mark that date on your calendar — you have that long to finish your bomb shelter. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SOMNIUM NOX — “THE ALNWICK APOTHEOSIS”

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Feb 272017
 

 

The powerful debut album of the Australian band Somnium Nox ushers the listener into another world, operating at a depth that seems to affect the subconscious mind like a form of hypnosis, as well as frequently pushing the pulse of the blood to racing levels. It’s an immersive, emotionally compelling experience, by turns spellbinding and abrasive… and in the opening minutes, it includes the haunting tones of a didgeridoo.

“Haunting” may be the single best word to describe the atmospheric black metal of Somnium Nox, as it does seem to emanate from a shadow realm, giving voice to primordial powers and wandering spirits that may be submerged but haven’t disappeared.

The album consists of three long tracks that connect to each other seamlessly, and today we have the premiere of the second one — “The Alnwick Apotheosis” — in advance of the album’s May 15 release by Transcending Obscurity Records. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: ARCANORUM ASTRUM — “THE GREAT ONE”

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Feb 262017
 

 

The Russian symphonic black/death metal band Arcanorum Astrum has recently completed work on their second album, The Great One, which is projected for release this April or May. Today we bring you a lyric video for the album’s title track, which features a guest solo by none other than Karl Sanders of Nile and makes good use of the impressive cover art by Alex Mayhem (Mayhem Design).

A vibrant classical piano melody begins this new song, and it ripples through the song, reappearing in the midst of the storming and the bombast that “The Great One” delivers. Soaring symphonic music gives the song yet another dimension, a mystical one, which contrasts with the song’s surging power. Continue reading »

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