Premieres Archives - Page 456 of 512

AN NCS PREMIERE: BLADE OF HORUS — “DESCENT INTO THE COSMIC REALM OF EVERLASTING MADNESS”

Dec 092015

Blade of Horus have emerged from Australia with a debut album entitled Monumental Massacre that’s scheduled for release on January 29 by Lacerated Enemy Records. They enlisted the masterful Kevin Talley to record drums for the album, and as you can see, it’s also introduced by some eye-catching cover art. Today we’re helping premiere the album’s first advance track, “Descent Into the Cosmic Realm of Everlasting Madness”.

With Talley’s able assistance, Blade of Horus inflict plenty of head trauma in this new song, both the physically bludgeoning kind inflicted by pile-driving riffs and booming bass work and the kind that disrupts neural connections with deranged lead guitar excretions. And speaking of excretions, the vocal tag-team deliver an amalgam of deep growls, incinerating shrieks, and vomitous gurgles — all the better to complete the job of dismantling whatever was working normally inside your skull. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): TEMPLE OF EVIL — “THE 7TH AWAKENING”

Album Reviews, Premieres 5 Responses »

Dec 072015

Today it’s our pleasure to help premiere the debut album by the black metal band Temple of Evil from Nicosia, Cyprus. Entitled The 7th Awakening, it will be released in a 6-panel digipak of 500 copies on January 7, 2016, by Deathhammer Records, and it’s available now on Bandcamp as well. And as you can see, it is accompanied by the striking artwork of Khaos Diktator Design — not only for the album cover but also for individual songs.

Temple of Evil’s unholy ranks consist of an agile bassist who doubles as a blood-freezing vocalist, a pair of riveting six-string guitarists (one of whom doubles as the keyboardist), and a drummer who is both acrobatic and a lethal blaster. Together they have created a dark and dramatic full-length, one that is esoteric and unearthly in its aura, both solemn and savage, grim and gripping. Continue reading »

BAKOS ATTILA: “ARANYHAJNAL”

Premieres 10 Responses »

Dec 042015

This album is an exception to some of our “rules”, including that main one reflected in our site’s title. I doubt that I would have delved into it but for the fact that I knew the name of its lone creator, Attila Bakos, because of his striking vocal contributions to two exceptional albums by the Hungarian band Thy Catafalque — Róka hasa rádió (2009) and Rengeteg (2011) — and even more specifically, because of his contribution to a song from the latter album that to this day remains one of my most-listened-to metal songs — “Fekete mezők”.

But Aranyhajnal (which means “golden dawn”) is not only exceptional as a subject for commentary at our site, it is also exceptional as a collection of music — as spellbinding and beautiful as the artwork by Gyula Havancsák that graces its cover. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: ABORTED — “TERMINATION REDUX”

Premieres 6 Responses »

Dec 042015

Given the diversity of our tastes in metal, there aren’t many bands that all of the old-timers on our staff can unanimously unite behind with enthusiastic devotion, but Aborted is one of those. And so you can imagine, then, we’re almost beside ourselves with glee over what we’re about to deliver unto your unprepared eyes and ears — a brand new Aborted song and a brand new video to go with it.

The name of the song is “Termination Redux” and it will appear on a special 20th anniversary EP by the same name that will be released in January as a prelude to the band’s next full-length album

I said “unprepared” on purpose, because seriously, you’re not ready for what you’re about to see and hear — unless you’re a fan of horror and gore, in which case you’ll… eat this up. As a prelude to the slaughter banquet, let’s consider this statement by the band: Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SEER — “ANTIBODY”

Exceptions to the Rule, Premieres 4 Responses »

Dec 042015

In the spring of this year I came across an extremely impressive debut EP by a band from Vancouver, British Columbia, named Seer. Entitled Vol. 1, it was self-released by the band late last year and consisted of two songs, “Glimmervoid” and “Hive Mind”. By the time I encountered the music (and praised it here), the Art of Propaganda label had announced that it had signed Seer for the release of a full-length debut that would include not only Vol. 1 but also four new songs under the name Vol. 2. Now we know that Art of Propaganda will release Vol. 1 & 2 on January 22, and we’re pleased to bring you the premiere of a song from Vol. 2 named “Antibody“.

I confess that one of the reasons I was first drawn to Seer’s music was the fact that they live in the Pacific Northwest, surrounded by the same combination of mountains, evergreen forests, rivers, lakes, and ocean that surround my own home base of Seattle, albeit about 150 miles further north. Like many bands in this region, the spectacular natural setting has influenced their music — along with an interest in fantasy, sic-fi, and the occult. And so while music reflects in certain ways the distinctive Cascadian atmosphere of this region, the band’s lyrical focus ventures beyond the bounds of what we see around us. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: AGAINST THE PLAGUES — “MAN’S MODERN WORLD”

Premieres 5 Responses »

Dec 032015

On December 18, the Dutch label Non Serviam Records will release the new album by multinational, Chicago-based extreme metal band Against the Plagues. Entitled Purified Through Devastation, it’s emblazoned with the flame-throwing cover art of Pär Oloffson and it includes a lot of flame-throwing music, too — as you will discover, through our premiere of a track called “Man’s Modern World“.

At just over 47 minutes in length, the album is a full-bodied offering of blackened death metal and features a revised line-up for this band, which includes current or former members of Damnation, Forest Of Impaled, Luciferion, and Throne of Sacrilege, among others. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HUMANITAS ERROR EST — “QUOD HOMO APPELLATUR MORBUS EST”

Premieres 5 Responses »

Dec 022015

Human Pathomorphism is the debut album by the German black metal horde Humanitas Error Est, and it’s set for release on January 11, 2016, by the unholy quartet of Satanath Records (Russia), The Black Plague (U.S.), Abstruse Eerie Radiance (Belgium), and The True Plague (U.S.). Today we present the exclusive premiere of a track from the album named “Quod Homo Apellatur Morbus Est“.

Few people alive can tell you what it’s like to be caught up in a cyclone, but you can imagine that experience when you listen to this song — except in this case it’s more like being whipped around in a tornado of flame and knives. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: GOMORRAH — “SITRA ACHRA”

Premieres 2 Responses »

Nov 272015

Many metal bands have chosen the name Gomorrah, but only one is based in the Okanagan Valley town of Kelowna, British Columbia. Since originally coming together in 2006, the band have altered their style of music, and their new second album reveals the current state of their malicious and malformed development. Entitled The Haruspex, it will be released in January by Canadian label Test Your Metal Records, and today we bring you the premiere of a track from the album named “Sitra Achra“.

The band’s line-up consists of vocalist Jeff Bryan and guitarist Bowen Matheson, and on this new album they’re joined by drummer Casey Long-Read. Bryan and Matheson had this to say about the song you’re about to hear: Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: VORNA — “EI VALO MINUA SEURAA”

Premieres 4 Responses »

Nov 272015

Earlier this month we had the pleasure of premiering an amazing video for a song called “Yksin” by a six-person band from Tampere, Finland, named Vorna. The song — which is equally amazing — will appear on the band’s second album Ei valo minus seuraa (No Light Follows Me), which will be released on December 4 by Inverse Records. And now today we bring you the U.S. streaming premiere of the entire album, along with track-by-track comments by Vorna’s vocalist Vesa Salovaara.

The track-by-track comments are useful because Vorna’s lyrics are in Finnish, and also because they provide insights into the inspiration for the music. You can read them following our album stream below. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: OBSCENE ENTITY — “LAMENTIA”

Premieres 6 Responses »

Nov 262015

The East Anglian region of the UK is home to Obscene Entity. Tomorrow (November 27) is the day appointed for the release of their debut album Lamentia by Tridoid Records, and today we bring you the premiere of a full stream of the album.

Lamentia follows the band’s 2012 self-titled EP, and it’s described as “a loosely-based concept album of the fragility of the human mind and states of psychosis experienced through both subjection and self-infliction”.

There is indeed a psychotic quality to the music, which combines elements of death metal, black metal, and grind to produce a harrowing flood of ferocity. The band ratchet the tension through an array of needling riffs, punishing drums, and wild, bestial shrieks and howls. When the tension breaks (and it doesn’t break often), it often happens in a catharsis of violence. Continue reading »

Older Entries Newer Entries