AN NCS PREMIERE: THE DEAD GOATS — “DON’T GO IN THE TOMB”

 Premieres  8 Responses »
May 052015
 

 

About 10 days ago I enthusiastically praised a new EP entitled Don’t Go In the Tomb by a Polish band named The Dead Goats, and today I have the pleasure of bringing you a full stream of the EP.

I’ll resist the urge to just re-print every word from my review, and tell you this instead: This EP doesn’t wear out its welcome. I’ve found myself going back to it repeatedly since first hearing it. It’s become my new-found fix when I’m in the need for a jolt of high-energy rampaging, accompanied by the sweet tones of chainsaw guitar and skin-flaying vocals. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: WITHIN DESTRUCTION — “CARNAGE”

 Premieres  1 Response »
May 042015
 

 

The Slovenian death metal band Within Destruction released their debut album From the Depths in 2012, and they’re now at work on their second full-length. But while work on the album proceeds, tomorrow they will be releasing a new single entitled “Carnage“, and today we’ve got for you the premiere of the song along with a music video.

In a nutshell, “Carnage” is just a hell of a lot of fun. It also raises a lot of hell. It’s loaded with gut-punching percussion; thunderous grooves; swarming riffs; and an effusion of hair-raising shrieks and growls. There’s even a melancholy, serpentine melody to go along with some headbangable, mosh-triggering breakdowns.

If you’re the sedentary sort, this high-energy music may not suit you — or maybe it’s just what you need — because it’s tough to sit still while it runs rampant through your head. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ABSCONDITUS — “ELEGEÍA (CONFESSION AU CÉNOTAPHE)”

 Premieres  4 Responses »
May 042015
 

 

We’ve come to depend on I, Voidhanger Records as a source of unusually interesting releases, a label that continually forms partnerships with talented bands whose music is far off the usual beaten paths. The label’s latest discovery is a French band named Absconditus, whose debut album Kατάβασις is now scheduled for release on June 8, with eye-catching cover art by UK talent Bethany White. Today we have the pleasure of bringing you a sample of what Absconditus have created, through our premiere of the album’s third track, “Elegeía (Confession au Cénotaphe)“.

I’ve seen the word “ritualistic” used to describe certain kinds of black metal, and I’ve used the word myself, without ever trying to form a clear mental definition of what it means. There are passages in this new song that bring the word to mind — segments of music that are slow, solemn, and surrounded by an aura of initiation and mystery. Those segments are themselves massively heavy, ominous, and dissonant, with a liturgy voiced by what sounds like a demonic beast. But this is only a part of this long song.

The music also includes movements of ravaging ferocity and power, with booming bass lines that shake the earth, the frenzied writhing of riffs and arpeggios that make a virtue of discordance, and a searing guitar solo. The music is unsettling, but brilliantly inventive and thoroughly engrossing. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: UNKURED — “MUTATED EARTH”

 Premieres  4 Responses »
May 042015
 

 

The Ohio triumvirate known as UnKured self-released their second album Mutated Earth in limited distribution last fall, but since then Sliptrick Records signed the band and are giving the album the worldwide release it deserves. Beginning tomorrow, the album will also become available for digital acquisition via Bandcamp. But today — today you will have the chance to hear the album on this very site, in this very post, and discover for yourselves what it has to offer.

And what it has to offer is an invasion from extraterrestrial forces bent on seizing control of the neurons in the pleasure centers of your brain — and burning out all the rest.

You could say that UnKured are a thrash band, but that would be like saying a cheetah is a cat. It’s true, but it doesn’t tell you nearly enough about what’s coming after you. The music is fast as greased lightning and just as electrifying. It’s fueled by a flurry of constantly changing riffs and a pinpoint rhythm section. The technical skill of all the performers is genuinely impressive, and there’s a flesh-scraping howler behind the mic. But that still doesn’t tell you enough. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: PANZERBASTARD AND RAWHIDE — SONGS FROM “BLACK HEARTS AND WHITE LINES”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
May 012015
 

 

Unholy Anarchy Records and Anvileater Records will soon be releasing a 7″ split by two proven head-wreckers: Boston’s PanzerBastard and Sweden’s Rawhide. Entitled Black Hearts and White Lines, it’s got more energy in its five tracks than a municipal power plant pushed to the edge of a blackout. I was offered the chance to premiere one track of my choosing from each band’s contributions to the split. Picking just one turned out to be hard as hell, because everything on Black Hearts kicks ass — but this is the kind of problem I’d love to have every day of the week.

PANZERBASTARD: “THE GRAND BARGAIN”

PanzerBastard have been cranking out demos, splits, and EPs since 2006, and this new release includes three more explosive blasts of mayhem. The track I picked for this premiere is “The Grand Bargain”. It’s a jolting rampage of punk-fueled metal that shifts into a lower gear before it’s over, hitting a groove that’s guaranteed to get heads moving while hosing you down with a bit of napalm shred at the same time. Hot shit. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: BEDLAM OF CACOPHONY — “IN FRANTIC SEARCH OF AN ANSWER”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Apr 282015
 

 

(Austin Weber introduces our premiere of a new song by Bedlam of Cacophony from Orange County, California.)

Sometimes it’s an even shittier day than usual, or maybe just an exercise in going through the motions sort of day — whatever the case, for many of us metal is a cathartic way to process these feelings and views in a positive way. So to give you a daily dose of high-voltage metallic vitamins, we bring you the premiere of a new track by Bedlam Of Cacophony, a California-based group who play a particularly nasty and frenetic form of death metal-meets-grind, executed in a highly technical way with choppy, chaotic songwriting that hints at a Dillinger Escape Plan math-y influence. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: TOTAL NEGATION — “FLEUCHTLING”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
Apr 272015
 

 

Next month Sweden’s Temple of Torturous will release the third album of Germany’s Total Negation, and to give you a hint of what lies within it, we bring you today the premiere of “Fleuchtling”.

There is no easy way to sum up this long song. It is both a lyrical and a musical narrative, one that unfolds (as the album does) very much like a story — a dark and disturbing story full of changing moods reflected in changes of pace and intensity. A mid-paced rocker at the start, it becomes brooding and eerie, with a spacious interlude pierced with twisted feedback, flickering noises, and the strumming of an acoustic guitar. As the song continues to unfold, bursts of double-bass and blast-beats join with whipping tremolo chords, rhythmic bass lines bound along beneath the reverberation of discordant guitars, and hand drums make an appearance as the song reaches its hallucinatory finale. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: MENDEL — “HORIZON”

 Premieres  4 Responses »
Apr 222015
 

 

(TheMadIsraeli introduces our premiere of another new song from the forthcoming album by Mendel, the solo project of Aborted guitarist Mendel Bij de Leij.)

Time to serve up another tasty morsel courtesy of Mendel. His new album Oblivion is coming soon and it’ll blow you away. We premiered the first single “Discover” earlier (here), and now we bring you the second track, “Horizon”.

This song is more of a display of Mendel’s riff-writing capability. This song lacks any notable lead playing, and instead is a technical riff showcase. There IS a solo in this song, but it’s a sax solo and it fits quite nicely with what he’s got going on. Let us know what you think. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SIX FEET UNDER — “GRUESOME”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
Apr 202015
 

 

We’re premiering a new Six Feet Under song today. I’m actually not sure that 4/20 is the best date for the premiere of “Gruesome“. I was thinking that something like the birthday of Ted Bundy might make more sense.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t blaze one before listening to “Gruesome”, as long as you understand the risk of warfare in your brain chemistry — between the part of you that wants to sink into a couch and dial out for a pizza and the part, awakened by this song, that wants to skin your obnoxious neighbor with a lemon peeler and then set him on fire before he bleeds out. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SCHAMMASCH — “INRI”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
Apr 202015
 

 

We discovered the Swiss band Schammasch through their 2014 album Contradiction (reviewed for us here by Andy Synn), which was one of last year’s best releases and quickly became a favorite of our site. Contradiction was the band’s second album, and now Prosthetic Records is poised to re-issue the band’s debut full-length Sic Lvceat Lvx in re-mastered form, and we’re privileged to bring you a stream of the second single from the album, a song named “INRI“.

The album was originally issued in 2010 as a limited-edition CD. In addition to having it re-mastered, Prosthetic has revamped the cover with striking artwork by Valnoir of Metastaszis (Behemoth, The Black Dahlia Murder) and is making it available not only on CD but on vinyl, along with a double-sided t-shirt.

The band’s vocalist C.S.R. has described “INRI” as “one of the few groove songs we wrote so far — thrashy, simple, forthright and still a great one to play live.” As for the song’s title, he explains: “Unlike it’s usual meaning as the cross inscription, the letters “INRI” refer to the alchemist aphorism ‘Igne Natura Renovatur Integra,’ pointing out purification through the flame of consciousness.” Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries