AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: HOLLOW LEG — “RAVEN”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
Apr 032017
 

 

Don’t skip to the 2:55 mark on this video. I mean, I’ll grant you, it’s damned tempting, at least if you want to bang your head ’til it comes off while the music hammers it until your skull risks splitting open like an overripe melon. But don’t do it… if you do, you’ll miss out on some highly addictive earthquaking and steamrolling leading up to that sweet moment.

The video you’re about to see is molded around a titanic head-mover named “Raven“, which is one of the two songs on Hollow Leg’s most recent EP, Murder, which was released by Argonauta Records on March 3 of this year. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: INERT — “TRADING DEATH”

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Apr 032017
 

 

Last June we had the pleasure of premiering Obliteration of the Self, an extremely impressive debut EP by an insurgent death metal duo originally from Spain and now in Sweden who call themselves Inert. Although the EP was originally self-released, Germany’s Neckbreaker Records knew a good thing when they heard it and are now releasing a vinyl edition of the EP, and will also be releasing the band’s debut album either late this year or early in 2018.

The vinyl reissue of Obliteration of the Self is now set to happen on April 14th. In addition to capturing the sounds in multi-colored physical format (remastered for this release), the vinyl edition will also include a bonus track specially written for this release. The name of the new track is “Trading Death“, and today we’re bringing you a lyric video for the song, created by “The Core Inside”. Continue reading »

MEDICO PESTE — “HERZOGIAN DARKNESS”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Mar 312017
 

 

Medico Peste are human beings (I presume, but cannot be sure) who have mastered the art of creating music that appears to be a gateway for the emergence of inhuman forces.

Discordance and delirium reign on their new EP, Herzogian Darkness. The music seethes with arcane energies, creating an experience that is terrifying and hallucinatory — and so intricate, so different, so highly accomplished, and so unnerving that it rooted this listener in place as if turned to stone.

To help you gauge its on effect on yourself, I’m including a full stream of the EP at the end of this review; it was released just yesterday by W.TC. Productions. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): BURIAL OATH — “BEYOND THE VALE OF SHADOWLANDS”

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Mar 312017
 

 

About 10 days ago we included two advance songs by the Cleveland melodic black metal band Burial Oath in one of our SHADES OF BLACK collections, and now it’s our pleasure to bring you a full stream of the debut album that houses those two, and six others. The album is Beyond the Vale of Shadowlands, and it will be released on April 7.

By way of introduction, I’m going to repeat what I wrote about those two advance tracks, and then add a few thoughts about the balance of this very multifaceted album. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ERUPTION — “SANITY ASCEND”

 Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres  3 Responses »
Mar 312017
 

 

Like many of you, I’m often drawn to explore music based solely on the cover artwork, and that’s exactly what happened in the case of Eruption’s new album, Cloaks of Oblivion. Isn’t that cover art by Alex Boca fantastic? And in this case, the music proved to be a match for the enticing quality of the visual art.

Eruption come our way from Ljubljana, Slovenia, and Cloaks of Oblivion is their third album. It will be released by Xtreem Music on May 2.

The words that leap to mind immediately in thinking about “Sanity Ascend“, which is the song from the new album that we’re premiering, are “explosive” and “electrifying”. Prepare to have the spigot on your adrenal glands cranked wide open. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HELLRIPPER — “DEMDIKE (IN LEAGUE WITH THE DEVIL)”

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Mar 312017
 

 

Coagulating Darkness is the new album by Hellripper, a one-man band from Aberdeen, Scotland, created by James McBain. The album will be released on April 14 through the German label Barbarian Wrath and the Scottish label Granite Factory Records, and we have for you the premiere of a song from the album called “Demdike (In League with the Devil)”.

This is Hellripper’s first full-length. It follows a debut EP in 2015 (The Manifestation of Evil), a trio of splits, and a compilation released last year (Complete and Total Fucking Mayhem). As you’re about to find out, Hellripper is a name that suits the music very well — because this is black thrash and speed metal that rips hell. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: INTEGRAL — “MECHANICAL EXISTENCE CONSTRUCTION”

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Mar 302017
 

 

Resilience is the name of the debut album by Integral from Bergamo, Italy. It will be released on May 5 by Ghastly Music, and we have a taste of the album for you today through our premiere of its first advance track, “Mechanical Existence Construction“, which features a guest vocal appearance by Obscura‘s Steffen Kummerer.

By way of introduction, it may be useful to note that the album is recommended for fans of The Black Dahlia Murder, Beyond Creation, The Faceless, and Gorod — and those do seem like useful references and fair comparisons as you embark upon the experience of “Mechanical Existence Construction”. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DISORDER — “EXISTENCIAS PARALELAS”

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Mar 302017
 

 

Disorder from El Salvador began the first stirrings of life in the mid-90s as its principal creator Jorge Montesino (M.Q.) began recording songs with an acoustic guitar on his tape recorder at home. The first demo was released in 2001, and the first album the next year. More than 10 years passed before Disorder‘s second album was released (by El Salvador’s Morbid Skull Records), and now the band’s third album is primed for release on April 21 by Symbol of Domination Productions (Belarus) and Morbid Skull. The album’s name is Fuego Negro, and today we premiere a song from the album called “Existencias Paralelas“.

This is the kind of music that ought to appeal mightily to thrash purists. It doesn’t aim to push the boundaries by incorporating progressive flourishes or throwing other genre styles into a blender. But it’s fast, it’s aggressive, and it delivers a big adrenaline surge — and if you like your vocals raw and vicious, Disorder satisfies those tastes as well (the album features guests on vocals and lead guitar, in addition to the talents of the band’s two main members). Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): HEXIS — “TANDO ASHANTI”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  2 Responses »
Mar 292017
 

 

We’ve been following the Danish band Hexis since 2012, posting reviews of their early split with As We Draw and Euglena, their 2014 album Abalam, and a remarkable video for the song “Septem“, which will appear on the band’s new album, Tando Ashanti. Hexis have also participated in split releases with This Gift Is A Curse, Primitive Man, and Redwood Hill, while also releasing a trio of EPs and playing more than 300 shows across a range of nations.

The new album will be released on April 14 by by Init Records on CD, by Halo of Flies and Alerta Antifascista on vinyl, and by Bloated Veins on cassette tape. The strength of the band’s previous releases should be reason enough to spend money on one or more of these editions, without more inducement, but today we have an exclusive full stream of the album to take any remnants of guesswork out of the decision. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DEVIL — “CEMETERY STILL”

 Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres  1 Response »
Mar 292017
 

 

We have an exception to the porous rule in our site’s title — sort of. The song we’re bringing you is a piece of moonshine-swilling devil rock by the Norwegian band Devil. “Cemetery Still” comes from the band’s third album, To the Gallows, which will be released by Soulseller Records on April 21.

The production quality of this new album may not be as rough as the band’s first demo, and the influence of classic heavy metal may be eclipsing doom to a greater extent than on the band’s first two albums, but as “Cemetery Still” proves, Devil are still a sure-handed source of highly addictive riffs — and sinful vocals. Continue reading »

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