AN NCS PREMIERE: RAVENCULT — “TORMENTOR OF FLESH”

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Oct 262016
 

ravencult-force-of-profanation

 

Almost exactly one year ago Metal Blade announced the signing of the Greek black metal band Ravencult, and now, roughly five years after their last album, a new one is on the horizon. Bearing the name Force of Profanation, it’s set for release on November 11. We previously praised the album’s first advance track, “Beneath the Relics of Old”, and now we’re fortunate to bring you the premiere of another song from the album, “Tormentor of Flesh“.

“Beneath the Relics of Old” is a truly electrifying riff monster, one ripper after another, heavy on the thrash end of the aggression scale and with an evil aura that grows even more sinister as the song progresses. “Tormentor of Flesh” is, if anything, even more turbocharged and savage. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: HAIL SPIRIT NOIR — “MAYHEM IN BLUE”

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Oct 262016
 

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We are very fortune to be the bearer of wonderful gifts from Greece today — specifically, a stream of all six songs gathered together on the new album Mayhem In Blue by Hail Spirit Noir.

The band’s first two albums, Pneuma and Oi Magoi, were so good and so distinctive that it’s fair to say fan expectations for the new album are high — and they’re not going to be disappointed, because Mayhem In Blue is the band’s best work yet. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: THOREN — “BRENNENBURG”

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Oct 262016
 

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(Austin Weber introduces our premiere of the new album by Michigan’s Thoren.)

A number of different factors explain the rising popularity of instrumental metal of all stripes. Some say it’s because not everyone likes “extreme vocals”, others say it’s because groups like Animals As Leaders and Chon (among many others) have helped prove that you can be popular in the metal scene without having vocals. Whatever the reason, I support it as a long-time fan of instrumental metal dating back to the early days of Spastic Ink and other groups.

With that in mind, we’ve got an early stream for you today from the Sterling Heights, Michigan, group Thoren, an instrumental metal act that falls less on the bright and melodic side, and more on the dissonant and chaotic side. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ARKONA — “ŚMIERĆ I ODRODZENIE”

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Oct 262016
 

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Earlier this month we had the pleasure of premiering a video for a song from Lunaris, the new album by the Polish black metal band Arkona, and today we have the chance to bring you a second song from the album in advance of its November 4 release by Debemur Morti Productions. This one is named “Śmierć i odrodzenie” (death and rebirth).

For those who missed our earlier premiere and may not be familiar with Arkona, they must be considered among the pioneers of Polish black metal, with demos that date back to 1994 and a first album (Imperium) that was released in 1996. Lunaris is the band’s sixth full-length in that long career, and the second one following a span between 2003 and 2014 when the band only participated in a few splits. This is their first album on the Debemur Morti label. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: SEEDNA — “FROZEN”

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Oct 252016
 

Seedna-Forlorn

 

Way back in May we had the pleasure of premiering a mammoth, intoxicating song called “Wander” from the debut album Forlorn by Sweden’s Seedna. The album was released in July and has racked up a long list of reviews extolling its many virtues, but some folks still may not have explored Forlorn, and so today we provide a further inducement as we premiere a video of the band’s live performance of the song “Frozen“.

While “Frozen” is anchored by enormous, hammering grooves that will get your head moving (as the band do their best to crack it open), the atmosphere of the music is also chaotic and hallucinatory, distraught and deranged. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: THE BLACK SCORPIO UNDERGROUND — “SHE WHO CANNOT BE SAVED”

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Oct 242016
 

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We’re about to invade your eyes and ears, and through them your soon-to-be-quivering brain, with a ritualized video that’s as hallucinatory and nightmarish as the music it accompanies. The music is a creation of The Black Scorpio Underground called “She Who Cannot Be Saved“, off T.B.S.U.’s forthcoming album Necrochasm.

Some of you may have heard the track before, since it had a premiere (sans visuals) at CVLT Nation in September. For those who haven’t, and who know nothing about T.B.S.U., there are no riffs in this piece, very few beats, and no melodies you’ll carry around in your head — though you’ll be carrying around something formless, shadowed, and frightful in there after you listen to it. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): CHIRAL — “GAZING LIGHT ETERNITY”

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Oct 242016
 

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Chiral is the solo musical project of a man named Matteo “Teo” Gruppi from the countryside near Piacenza in northern Italy. The project began at the end of 2013, and since then Chiral has recorded two demos, two splits, and two albums — and today we bring you a full stream of the third Chiral album, Gazing Light Eternity, which will be released on October 27.

This new album is about Time — about “the evolution and perception of the perpetual flow of time on men, places and memories”. It’s a musical narrative in four Parts. The flow of the album takes the listener through two long atmospheric black metal tracks (“Part I (The Gazer)” and “Part III (The Crown)”), each of which is followed by a comparatively shorter ambient piece (“Part II (The Haze)” and “Part IV (The Hourglass)”). Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): BAHRRECHT — “L’AUBE GLACÉE”

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Oct 242016
 

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Bahrrecht are a black metal band from northeastern France. Their debut album Nuit de neige was released by the German label Ketzer Records in 2011, and one week from today Ketzer will also release the band’s second album, L’Aube Glacée (“frozen dawn”). Today we’re giving you the chance to hear this distinctive and compelling album in its entirety, in advance of its October 31 street date.

Bahrrecht made the album in part as an homage to the European black metal of the ’90s, and in particular as a sign of respect to bands such as Windir, Dissection, Taake, and Ragnarok. But it won’t take you long to realize that the album has a character, complexity, and atmosphere all its own. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): BLASPHEMER — “RITUAL THEOPHAGY”

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Oct 242016
 

blasphemer-ritual-theophagy

 

Ritual Theophagy is the second album by Blasphemer, a death metal band from Muggiò in the Lombardy region of northern Italy. It follows by eight years the band’s first album, On the Inexistence of God, and a 2010 EP named Devouring Deception that we praised in a review (here). Ritual Theophagy is already available through the band and Comatose Music, but we’re now bringing you a full public stream of the album for the first time.

Blasphemer throw 11 songs at you in the space of about 28 minutes, with only one of the songs reaching the three-minute mark. And from that, even if you’re unfamiliar with Blasphemer‘s take-no-prisoners approach to death metal, you might deduce that Blasphemer traffic in speed… and you would be right. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ETERNAL DEFORMITY — “REINVENTED”

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Oct 212016
 

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On November 18, Temple of Torturous will release the first album by Poland’s Eternal Deformity since The Beauty of Chaos four years ago. The new one is named No Way Out, and today we bring you a song virtually guaranteed to carry you away with its vibrancy, dynamism, and emotional power — “Reinvented“.

Those of you familiar with the band’s previous releases will be aware that Eternal Deformity have been on an ever-changing path of musical exploration, from the doom and gothic-slanted leanings of their early material to the circus-themed nightmare of Frozen Circus and the symphonic/blackened traits of The Beauty Of Chaos. The new album incorporates these previous elements of the band’s journey, but it also moves in other directions. Continue reading »

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