AN NCS PREMIERE: EVER CIRCLING WOLVES — “LENORE”

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Jan 242017
 

 

Like all the broad genre terms of metal, “Doom” covers a lot of ground, so much musical landscape that the term by itself gives only the sketchiest of clues about what you may be about to hear. But even the more specific sub-classifications of the genre really don’t fit the unconventional twists and turns of the song by Ever Circling Wolves that we’re now presenting to you.

The name of the song is “Lenore“, and it comes from this Finnish band’s second album, which bears the wonderful title Of Woe or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Gloom. It will be released on January 27 by Colorado-based Cimmerian Shade Recordings. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): VITRIOL — “VITRIOL”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
Jan 242017
 

 

Vitriol have accomplished something remarkable on their first release, in fact so remarkable that it’s going to leave the brains of a certain segment of the listening public spinning around like they’ve been dropped in a blender set to puree. It’s one of the most stunning and stupefying death metal releases I’ve heard in this new year, and I probably won’t hear its equal by year-end. But I must say in the same breath that it may repel all but the most scarred and hardened listeners, the kind of people who (like me) revel in new extremes of noxious but electrifying filth. For those kinds of fans, however, Vitriol have already reach dizzying heights of appalling power.

Vitriol is a two-man operation based in Nuremberg, Germany. They originally released this self-titled debut demo last summer on tape, and now Hellthrasher Productions will expose the music to a wider audience through a CD release on January 27. We’re about to expose you to it with the premiere of a full stream. Prepare yourselves for something completely wild, and uglier than sin. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: SCORDATURA — “SERVANTS OF ENTRAPMENT”

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Jan 232017
 

 

The knife-wielding horrors of Pär Olofsson’s imagination stare out at you from the cover of Self-Created Abyss, the new album by Scotland’s Scordatura that’s set for release by Gore House Productions on March 24, but those blood-chilling visages still don’t adequately prepare the listener for the barbaric savagery and explosive destructiveness of the music. It’s an electrifying (and electrocuting) experience, and we have a sample of it for your tender ears as we premiere the lyric video for a monstrous track called “Servants of Entrapment“.

The song hits with typhoon-strength power, the massive grinding riffs eviscerating and disemboweling at a high rate of speed, matched by the clatter and boom of spitfire drumming. With hoarse growls and incinerating shrieks as vocal accompaniment, the sound is merciless and marauding. It’s like being teleported into the munitions frenzy of a war zone. But that feeling of utter mayhem is only part of the sensations of the song. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): HORN — “TURM AM HANG”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  2 Responses »
Jan 232017
 

 

Turm am Hang is the new album by Germany’s Horn and it’s a unique experience. “Unique” is an overused and misused word, but here it’s not hyperbole. The album is so distinctive that it defies comparisons — as you’re about to discover for yourselves, because we’re presenting the premiere of a full album stream in advance of the record’s release on January 27.

The work of Horn’s lone creator Nerrath, Turm am Hang is Horn’s seventh album and, among the ones I’ve heard, the most successful. It was inspired by a variety of historical subjects, as well as by an appreciation for ancient valor and an animating spirit of tribalism. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: GRIMA — “THE MOON AND ITS SHADOWS”

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Jan 222017
 

 

Tales of the Enchanted Woods is the second album by the Siberian atmospheric black metal band Grima, and it is now set for release by Naturmacht Productions on February 25. Today we bring you the premiere of the album’s second track, “The Moon and Its Shadows“.

Grima is two-person endeavor (Velhelm and Morbius) that has existed since 2014 as a studio-only project, with a pagan ethos “based on the worship of the elder forest, its power and magic, where the Grima is a supreme god… a powerful spirit, who protects only those who live in a forest, and punishes everyone who does not respect nature”. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A SLOBBERY REVIEW): THE FEVERED – “I HAVE SEEN DEATH”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  3 Responses »
Jan 202017
 

 

In 1901, as part of his research on the rates of salivations among dogs, Ivan Pavlov developed a “conditioned reflex” in his test animals. He learned that when a buzzer or metronome was sounded in time with the presentation of food to his dogs, they would first salivate when the food was presented, and then later, after coming to associate the sound with the food, would salivate simply upon hearing the sound itself.

I am like Pavlov’s dogs — when I hear a mighty HM-2 pedal at work, the saliva starts flowing. I’ve gotten especially slobbery over the new album I Have Seen Death from Brisbane’s The Fevered. Through 10 tracks of Swe-death-style d-beat hardcore mayhem, they’ve rumbled my guts something fierce. Put your bib on to protect against soaking your shirt in slobber and join us for a full run through the album. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: WITCHMASTER AND VOIDHANGER — “RAZING THE SHRINES OF OPTIMISM”

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Jan 192017
 

 

If you’re in dire need of a big wake-up call, you could jam a live power line down your throat or you could listen to this new split by the Polish barbarians in Witchmaster and Voidhanger. The effect would be pretty much the same either way.

The name of this electrifying barrage is Razing the Shrines of Optimism, and it’s set for release tomorrow (January 20) by Third Eye Temple. We’re delighted to bring you a full stream of all the audio murder today.

Both of these bands infuse their music with the poison of black metal, along with the energy of a power plant in overdrive, but as you’ll find out, their approaches to the task of firing up an audience follow different strategies. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): STELLAR DESCENT AND AYLWIN — “SECOND SEQUENCE”

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Jan 192017
 

 

Tomorrow the West Cost atmospheric black metal bands Stellar Descent and Aylwin will release an immersive new split under the title Second Sequence, marking the bands’ second collaboration following their 2013 split, Farallon. We have the first public stream of the split today, preceded by some thoughts about the music. The split will be released digitally at these locations — with all proceeds going to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in the U.S., which funds both NPR and PBS:

http://stellardescent.bandcamp.com
http://aylwin.bandcamp.com

And there will be a tape release from Red River Family and a CD edition through Arcane Angels.
Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: MINDFUL OF PRIPYAT — “HOSTAGE” AND “SPECIMEN”

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Jan 182017
 

 

The Milanese band Mindful of Pripyat made an explosive appearance on the scene with the 2015 release of their debut EP …and Deeper, I Drown In Doom…, which I praised in a review here at our putrid site and KevinP anointed with an award as one of the best albums released that month. In his words: “Think Terrorizer and early Carcass with absolute razor precision backed by a solid production…. One of the fresher pieces of grind I’ve heard in awhile.”

On March 1 we will finally have new music from Mindful of Pripyat, because that’s the date set by Everlasting Spew for the release of a new split by the band, a split on which they’re joined by the Venetian marauders in Stench of Profit. What we have for you today is a premiere of not one, but two songs from the Mindful of Pripyat side of the split — “Hostage” and “Specimen“. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: AU CHAMP DES MORTS — “LE SANG, LA MORT, LA CHUTE”

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Jan 182017
 

 

Two weeks ago we brought you the premiere of the title track to Dans La Joie, the debut album by the French band Au Champ Des Morts that’s now less than 10 days away from its official release by Debemur Morti Productions, and today we have another excerpt from the album — “Le Sang, La Mort, La Chute”.

For those who are only now discovering the band, it was founded in 2014 by guitarist/vocalist Stefan Bayle (Anorexia Nervosa) and he is joined on this album by bassist/vocalist Cecile G. and drummer Wilhelm. Dans La Joie was preceded by an impressive debut EP (Le Jour Se Lève) released by Debemur Morti last June. Continue reading »

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