GET TO THE POINT: ASTROUS (AENAON) ANNOUNCES NEW GREEK SUPERGROUP — KATAVASIA — AND WE BRING YOU A SONG PREMIERE

 Interviews, Metal News, Premieres  3 Responses »
Feb 022015
 

 

(KevinP brings us another edition of his short-interview series, “Get To The Point”, and he talks with Astrous, vocalist of the Greek black metal band Aenaon. But this time the interview includes both a news scoop about the new Greek supergroup Katavasia and the world premiere of a new Katavasia song.)

K:  So what’s the big news you want to share with all of us today?

A:  I feel great to announce a new alliance in the Greek Black Metal circles which is called KATAVASIA. This new project consists of well-known musicians and guest appearances, aimed to produce the unique sound and spirit of the early Greek black metal era.

 

K:  Can you tell us who is responsible for this alliance? Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: GRIMOIRE — “L’AORASIE DE SPECTRES RÊVEURS”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  4 Responses »
Jan 302015
 

We bring you a review and the premiere of L’aorasie des specters rêveurs, a four-track EP by the a one-man atmospheric black metal band from Québec known as Grimoire.  The EP is being released by the German label Eisenwald and it follows Grimoire’s 2011 debut album À la lumière des cendres.

The one man behind Grimoire is Fiel, who is also a member of other Quebecois black metal bands — Forteresse, Csejthe, and Ephemer. With this EP he has created an enthralling union of the the harsh and the sublime, a captivating work that is effectively atmospheric and emotionally gripping. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: THE MONOLITH DEATHCULT — “REIGN OF HELL”

 Premieres  9 Responses »
Jan 292015
 

 

We’ve made no secret of our fondness for The Monolith Deathcult. It may go too far to say that everything they touch turns to gold — it would be more accurate to say that everything they touch turns to rubble and bone splinters. But when it comes to metal, destruction IS gold, isn’t it?

Given the quality and success of the band’s last album, 2013’s Tetragrammaton, we thought maybe they had retired to the Riviera, rolling in cash, bathing in champagne, and passing their days in the endless consumption of fine cigars and premium caviar. But it turns out they have actually torn themselves away from the delights of the flesh and recorded some music, of which we have the privilege of bringing you a first taste.

On March 24, Season of Mist will release a new TMDC EP entitled Bloodcults, and a few paragraphs from now you’ll be able to hear one of the songs on the EP, a hellish track named “Reign of Hell”. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: “NORTHEASTERN HYMNS” (OBSIDIAN TONGUE, IN HUMAN FORM, AUTOLATRY, INFERA BRUO)

 Album Reviews, Premieres  4 Responses »
Jan 272015
 

 

We have the great pleasure of premiering for you a full stream of an extended split release by four very talented northeastern U.S. bands, an album-length work entitled Northeastern Hymns that has quickly become one of my favorite releases of 2015.

Three of the bands — Obsidian Tongue, In Human Form, and Infera Bruo — make their homes in Massachusetts, while the fourth — Autolatry — hail from Connecticut. In each case, these long songs mark the bands’ first recorded output since albums that appeared in 2013. In each case, there is a connection to the genre of black metal, but other musical elements are more dominant. And together, they provide a tremendously multi-faceted and tremendously engaging array of musical creativity and instrumental talent. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: GRAVEYARD AFTER GRAVEYARD — “OUT TO FEED”

 Premieres  7 Responses »
Jan 232015
 

 

Graveyard After Graveyard combines the talents of Jocke Ringdahl (ex-Paganizer, Sinners Burn) on drums; the ubiquitous Rogga Johansson (Paganizer, Ribspreader, etc.) on guitar, bass, and vocals; and Mika Lagreen (ex-Facebreaker, Grave) on lead guitars and solos. They released a self-titled EP in 2014 and then a debut album last year as well — Bagged and Dragged To A Fullmoon Burial.

But Graveyard After Graveyard have written so many songs that another new release is already on the way. Soon, Chaos Records will be releasing another EP by the band entitled Hellhound On My Trail, from which we are delighted to premiere a track named “Out To Feed”.

There’s a lot of death metal pedigree in those names listed above, but “Out To Feed” goes off in a different direction, albeit one that’s no less nasty and extreme. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: BEYOND GRACE — “OMEGA POINT”

 Premieres  15 Responses »
Jan 222015
 

 

Today we bring you the North American premiere of a new single and lyric video from Beyond Grace, a UK-based band that features our own Andy Synn as vocalist/lyricist. The song’s name is “Omega Point”, it features cover art by Michael Cowell with video production by Kevin Desjardin, and it’s the first song to be revealed from the band’s new album Seekers. As of today, the band are also making the song available for download on Bandcamp.

“Omega Point” melds together jolting, heavy-grooved riffs and drum work, darting guitar flurries, and swirling melodies that are as fluid as the the rest of the music is spine-snapping. It’s the kind of song that successfully joins high-voltage, technically impressive instrumental assaults that punch really hard with beautiful melodic guitar soloing that seems to glide effortlessly. The result is a song that’s memorable, as well as immediately galvanizing. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE (AND A FREE DOWNLOAD): HELRUNAR — “DEVILS, DEVILS EVERYWHERE”

 Premieres  5 Responses »
Jan 222015
 

Lupus Lounge (a division of Prophecy Productions) has announced that on February 27 in Europe and March 3 in North America it will release the new album by Germany’s Helrunar — Niederkunfft. Today we bring you not only a premiere of one of the new songs — “Devils, Devils Everywhere” — but also a chance to download the song for free.

The new album marks a change for Helrunar, both in their lyrical focus and in their sound. Conceptually, the new album addresses historical subjects, described as the narrative of “European people on the threshold between the Middle Ages and modern times, surrounded by superstition and fear, torn between religion and the Enlightenment”.

Musically, the Helrunar duo have also branched out from their pagan black metal roots, and “Devils, Devils Everywhere” is a good introduction to the way in which they have incorporated new elements. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HEAVING EARTH — “JESUS DIED”

 Premieres  6 Responses »
Jan 212015
 

 

(Austin Weber introduces our premiere of a new song by the Czech metal band Heaving Earth.)

The Czech Republic has been churning out plenty of killer metal bands for a long time now. One can only speculate as to why, but that’s not really pertinent, so let’s move along. I thought that I had explored every nook and cranny of their metal scene, and yet alas, I somehow entirely missed out on Heaving Earth. It only took one early-released song sent to my inbox from a PR firm,“Doomed Before Inception”, to hook me in and become eager for their soon-to-be-released record, Denouncing The Holy Throne.

While their band name comes from the Morbid Angel song of the same name, and the band is indeed certainly steeped in early death metal influences, they come across with a sound all their own. Boatloads of killer serrated riffs are an integral part of the Heaving Earth experience, yet it’s their subtly erratic nature, off-kilter hairpin turns, and mountain-sized heaviness that keeps me coming back. That, and the way they come across as very dark and foreboding, very much in the mood and feeling that some of the most fucked-up and disturbing black metal channel so well. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: SCARS DIVIDE — “ALL THAT WE NEED”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Jan 202015
 

 

Scars Divide are a Swiss band whose self-titled debut EP was released by Tenacity Music roughly 11 months ago. Today we bring you the premiere of a video for its opening track, “All That We Need”. And it’s a reminder that apart from the entertainment that well-made videos provide, they can also serve as an introduction to excellent music that some folks might have overlooked when it was initially released.

Which is an indirect way of saying that I missed the EP when it came out — and now I’m glad that I found it, thanks to this video. I hope you’ll feel the same way after you see and hear it. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: HEIRESS — “DISMALIST”

 Premieres  13 Responses »
Jan 162015
 

At the bottom of this post you’ll find the premiere of a fantastic new song by Seattle’s Heiress. I wouldn’t blame you one bit if you just skipped to the end and started listening. But whether you do that or plod through the words I feel compelled to write, by all means — listen to the song!

Nowadays, I try to stay on top of new metal, without letting grass grow under my feet. It wasn’t always that way. I moved to Seattle from Texas in 1995. I barely listened to metal back then; grunge was the rage in my new hometown, and I got caught up in that. Himsa didn’t come out with their debut album until four years later, and I still didn’t discover them until years after that. But when I did, it made an enormous impact on me as a fledgling metal fan. I still mourn the passing of that band.

Even though I now try to stay on top of things in a more timely way, I still didn’t completely tumble to Heiress until I saw them perform live last year. I don’t know why it took me so fucking long, especially since Himsa’s ex-vocalist (and a fixture in Seattle’s heavy music scene) John Pettibone fronts Heiress. Continue reading »

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