Jun 122016
 

Paganizer-On the Outskirts of Hades

 

Of all the many musical projects of Rogga Johansson over an illustrious career, Paganizer is the oldest and longest-running, with the first demo (Stormfire) being released in 1998, followed by new releases or compilations almost every year since then. In this current year, the mighty Paganizer have again mounted a new death metal assault in the form of an EP fittingly named On the Outskirts of Hades, and today we bring you the premiere of its opening track: “Angry All the Time“.

What a great name for a song, and one that rings so true in the baleful light of Paganizer’s long and savage history. And it’s not only the title of the song that’s great. Continue reading »

Jun 102016
 

Inert-Obliteration of the Self

 

One week ago we premiered the title track from Obliteration of the Self, the debut EP by an insurgent death metal duo who call themselves Inert, and today we deliver a full stream of the entire EP, which the band are making available as a free download for a limited time.

For those who missed our earlier premiere, I’ll repeat the band’s origin story: Both members (guitarist Xavier Aguilar and vocalist/drummer Gustavo Garcia) knew each other for many years from the metal scene in Barcelona, Spain, but didn’t join forces in Inert until Xavi moved to Stockholm, Sweden. Perhaps something in the Swedish water infiltrated Xavi’s creative juices, but whatever caused this duo to join forces only after considerable distance separated them, we should be thankful for it. Continue reading »

Jun 092016
 

Monolithe-Zeta Reticuli

 

Only six months ago we were privileged to bring you the premiere of a full-album stream on the release date of Epsilon Aurigae, the the fifth album by the remarkable Parisian doom band Monolithe. But that album was only the first part of a two-album conceptual work, and the second part — entitled Zeta Reticuli — has now been scheduled for release by Debemur Morti Productions on July 8. As was true of Epsilon Aurigae, the new album is composed of three long tracks, and today we’re helping share a video teaser that will begin whetting your appetite for the full experience.

In my review of the last album, I attempted to describe the experience as something akin to “diving into a deep blue hole, with crushing pressures and glowing phosphorescence all around you, or perhaps like a venture into the cold void of space. Either way, you really lose the sense that you’re standing on solid ground.”

That album was brimming with dark atmospheric music, incisively textured and powerful in its emotional impact. But for all of its alien ambience and bereft melodies, the album was also a heavyweight crusher, and one of the most mesmerizing doom albums of 2015. Understandably, I’ve been eager to discover the second half of this musical saga. Continue reading »

Jun 092016
 

Mitochondrion-Auroch-In Chronian Hour

 

Auroch and Mitochondrion are two Vancouver, BC, bands with interlocking parts who have been favorites of this site for a long stretch of years. They have joined forces in a split release called In Cronian Hour that’s finally on the brink of release via Dark Descent and Hellthrasher Productions, and we’re damned fortunate to bring you a stream of the split today.

We’ve been waiting for this release a long time — I first wrote about plans for the split in November 2013. Yet despite the passage of years, this week turns out to be excellent timing for the debut of the music stream: Less than two weeks ago, both bands proved their power once again with staggering sets at Maryland Deathfest 2016 (reviewed here), and less than two weeks from now Auroch will undoubtedly do it again in Vancouver as part of the stacked line-up at this year’s Covenant Festival on June 16-18.

People who have seen the bands perform within the last six months have probably heard both of the songs on this split. They’re striking songs, even heard individually and separated in time, but they’re connected. Continue reading »

Jun 082016
 

Betrayal-Infinite Circles

 

(TheMadIsraeli delivers our premiere of a full album stream for the debut full-length by Germany’s Betrayal, along with a review.)

Betrayal is a promising melodic death metal new-blood hailing from Aschaffenburg, Germany. Their new album Infinite Circles is one of the most impressive debuts I’ve heard this year, mixing the technicality and high/low vocal attack of The Black Dahlia Murder, the venom and dynamism of Arsis along with some proggy undertones that call to mind bands like Extol, all firmly rooted by a very The Absence-esque dedication to the best of tried and true melodic death metal convention. Continue reading »

Jun 072016
 

Noire-The Tracks of the Hunted Cover

 

With a 2011 demo and a 2013 debut album (Dark Reverence) behind them, the Canadian band Noire have completed work on a new six-track EP named The Tracks of the Hunted, which they will release on July 8. Today we bring you a premiere of the title track.

While the EP was constructed on a scaffolding of black metal, the completed edifice incorporates diverse materials ranging from ambient-styled sounds to piano and acoustic guitar. The track you’re about to hear is itself a wide-ranging journey, though the softer sounds of acoustic instrumentation were put aside for this dynamic trip. Continue reading »

Jun 062016
 

"INVIDIOSUS" cover

 

(Austin Weber brings us this premiere of a video for a song from the new EP by Minnesota’s Invidiosus.)

Longtime NCS readers might be familiar with Minneapolis death metal squid squad Invidiosus since we’ve been covering them frequently here since 2014 — not to mention that the band shares a bassist (Todd Farnham) with fellow NCS favorites Amiensus. We last covered Invidiosus back in February, when we helped them launch a badass stand-alone single called “Neurotic Misery”. Continuing to release new tunes while persistently evolving, the band is including this single on an upcoming EP called Guided Towards The Inevitable, which will come out on Friday, June 17th, through Twin Town Tyrant Records. I’ll also help the band stream all five songs a few days before the EP’s release over at Metal-Injection on Tuesday, June 14th, just as a heads-up!

Ahead of its release, we’ve got a refresher of “Neurotic Misery” for you in the form of an exclusive launch of a music video for the song. Like previous videos by the band that we’ve premiered, this one again shows the fun and silly side of the band instead of being a solely performance-focused piece. If you missed the song when we premiered it months ago, that’s all the more reason to make sure to hit play below and take in some eclectic and tasty death metal. Continue reading »

Jun 052016
 

Terra Tenebrosa-The Reverses

 

After the first two albums by Terra Tenebrosa — 2011’s The Tunnels and 2013’s The Purging — the arrival of a new album is like the mysterious appearance of an intricately carved box in a puff of indigo vapor. The strange sigils and runes seem to shimmer of their own accord in the gnarled, leaden wood. What lies within becomes a matter of intrigue. You can be fairly sure that the contents will be dark, disturbing, and otherwise dismissive of genre boundaries, but beyond that it’s difficult to foresee what the alchemical processes of The Cuckoo’s art have rendered.

The new album is named The Reverses and it will be released on June 17 (June 22 in North America) by Debemur Morti. The significance of the title and its connection to the albums that preceded it have yet to be revealed. What has been revealed so far is a lyric video for a song called “The End Is Mine To Ride”, and today we’re helping to share a stream of a second track, “Ghost At the End of The Rope”. Continue reading »

Jun 032016
 

Inert-Obliteration of the Self

Inert is the name of a two-man band whose debut EP Obliteration of the Self will be released on June 17. Both members (guitarist Xavier Aguilar and vocalist/drummer Gustavo Garcia) knew each other for many years from the metal scene in Barcelona, Spain, but didn’t join forces in Inert until Xavi moved to Stockholm, Sweden. These days, distance isn’t the impediment to creative collaboration that it used to be — and in the case of Inert that’s a very good thing.

We’re happy to bring you the premiere of the title track to this new EP. It accomplishes an impressive feat: It pulls heavily from some distinct death metal bloodlines, most of them venerable and some more modern, and integrates the stylistic influences in a way that sounds natural and also completely killer. Continue reading »

Jun 022016
 

Deceptionist-Initializing Irreversible Process

 

Two weeks ago we celebrated the discovery of an advance track named “Quest For Identity” from the new album by the Roman band Deceptionist. It left me questing for my own identity after the alien, hyper-speed assault of that song had scrambled my brain over high heat and left it in a smoking ruin. Two weeks later and I had just begin thinking somewhat clearly again, when I encountered the Deceptionist song we’re now about to share with you, and now I’ve again forgotten my own name. Luckily, I’m a touch-typist because my eyes also rolled back in my head and they haven’t descended yet.

The new track is named “Final Innovation / Automatic Time”, and like “Quest For identity” it appears on Deceptionist’s new album  Initializing Irreversible Process, which is set for release on June 17 by Unique Leader. This new track also comes our way wrapped in the packaging of a lyric video. Continue reading »