AN NCS PREMIERE: LOTUS THIEF — “MISERAS”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
Nov 132014
 

 

When someone describes an album by telling you that you’ve never heard anything like it before, you may greet such a claim with skepticism. So I’ll just say that I’ve never heard anything quite like Rervm before. It’s the debut album of a San Francisco band named Lotus Thief, and today we bring you the premiere of the album’s second track, “Miseras”.

Lotus Thief consists of two members, Bezaelith (Botanist, Mina Loy, The Night Falls) and Otrebor (Botanist, Ordo Obsidium). The fact that both have been involved in the unique music of Botanist may suggest certain musical associations, but Lotus Thief follows a different musical path, albeit one just as unusual. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SPECTRAL LORE — “QUIVERING” (AND A REVIEW OF “THE QUIVERING LIGHTS”)

 Album Reviews, Premieres  5 Responses »
Nov 102014
 

On January 20, 2015, Bindrune and Eihwaz Recordings will release an unusual and unusually good split LP by a group of very talented composers and musicians — P.H. and U.K. of Germany’s Nachtreich and Ayloss of Spectral Lore from Greece — under the title The Quivering Lights. Today we bring you the premiere of one of the Spectral Lore tracks, “Quivering”.

The split is unusual because it is a genuine collaboration between the two bands rather than a mere compilation of independent recordings by each one. Each band recorded three songs, but the tracks are interwoven, with Nachtreich’s “Light” opening the album followed by the Spectral Lore song we’re premiering today. Two more Nachtreich tracks then follow (an instrumental piece named “Greyness”, and “Ghost Light”), followed by the last two Spectral Lore tracks (“Vanishing” and a final instrumental work, “Reflection”). Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DEVOURING STAR — “DECAYED SON OF EARTH”

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Nov 102014
 

 

(In this post we’re helping to premiere a new song by Finland’s Devouring Star from their debut album, due for release by Daemon Worship Productions.  Austin Weber provides the introduction.)

Very recently here at NCS, I wrote about a Finnish black metal group called Devouring Star in my Recalcitrant Roundup series. Now that a small bit of time has passed, the band have found a label to call home — Daemon Worship Productions. In addition, through DWP they are on the cusp of releasing to the world a new five-song album, Through Lung And Heart. We and two other sites are giving you a first glimpse at this latest misanthropic offering through our premiere of one of the new songs — “Decayed Son of Earth”.

While Devouring Star may be said to generate a musical aura similar to that of Deathspell Omega, they do a lot to set themselves apart from mere hero worship. While most black metal hints at evil or masquerades as such, Devouring Star is the real, uglier-than-sin deal, with “Decayed Son Of Earth” serving as a carnal carnival of cataclysmic rage whose disgusting majesty cannot be ignored. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: STEALING AXION — “AEONS”

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Nov 082014
 

 

(TheMadIsraeli provides the following introduction to our full-album streaming premiere of the new album by Stealing Axion from Tacoma, Washington.)

You may all remember I gave Stealing Axion’s debut Moments high praise (here) back in 2012. Their combination of djent, death metal, and progressive songwriting aspirations really hit a resonant note with me, to the point where Moments still gets a good amount of play time in my music listening. Now, we at NCS have the exclusive honor of streaming the band’s new album Aeons. A review from me will be coming later down the line.

Is Aeons better than Moments? That is hard to say. While the combination of djent/death metal/progressive elements is still there, Aeons see’s the band taking a much more atmospheric, and in a lot of ways (dare I say) doomy approach to the music. If you really want an answer to the question of Is it better?, I’d tell you it’s equally good in it’s own right — and that’s saying a lot. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: TWO NEW SONGS FROM ABIGAIL WILLIAMS

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Nov 062014
 

 

It’s the time of year when people who make year-end lists start the tortuous mental process of sifting and ranking what they’ve heard. We’ll be doing that soon, but we’re also looking further down the road in anticipation of what 2015 will bring. And one record it will bring that’s already on our list of highly anticipated new releases is the next album by Abigail Williams.

Today we’re fortunate to bring you a couple of teasers for what the album holds in store, as well as some words from vocalist/guitarist Ken Sorceron about the new album.

What you’re about to hear are two early versions of songs that will appear on the band’s fourth album coming next year via Candlelight Records, the successor to 2012’s excellent Becoming: “Forever Kingdom of Dirt” and “Will, Wish and Desire”. The very talented line-up for these recordings is as follows — with one special guest: Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DEMON PROJECT — “AFTERGLOW”

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Nov 052014
 

 

Demon Project have risen from the spawning grounds of Novosibirsk in Siberian Russia, with two albums and two shorter releases to their credit since 2007, and now they have a new album entitled Revival that’s coming our way in December on the Italian label Revalve Records. Today we’re giving you a taste of the new music through our premiere of “Afterglow” — which qualifies as an exception to our customary Rule.

From my own limited exposure to music from Eastern Russia, I tend to think of doom before anything else, but “Afterglow” is a blazing burst of galloping melodic death metal, with hard-punching rhythms, flickering electronic enhancements, and an eye-opening guitar solo. But that’s not all. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: BARING TEETH — “DRIPPING SUN”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  2 Responses »
Nov 052014
 

 

(Austin Weber wrote the following introduction to our premiere of a song from the forthcoming second album by Baring Teeth.)

While Willowtip continues to churn out releases by forward-thinking bands like it’s no big deal, Baring Teeth still stand out as a singular creative force on their roster. Their exponential growth and talent for exploration displayed on their soon to be released sophomore album, Ghost Chorus Among Old Ruins, prove that their path is a rich and multifaceted one, albeit one that’s highly unsettling in the best way possible.

Their last album, 2011’s Atrophy, cemented the band as pioneers in the art of stretching boundaries and seeking out different methods and manners of interpreting death metal, creating new and inspired forms of the genre, giving it a new canvas on which to rot, and painting with a more sophisticated palette than mere straightforward aggression and simple headbangable riffs. They infuse their output with an alien presence that wanders amidst chaotic rhythms and moody peaks and valleys. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DIRE OMEN — “FORETOLD UNTETHERING FROM EXISTENCE”

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Nov 052014
 

The forthcoming debut album of Dire Omen from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, has proven to be a revelation — a stupendously powerful release that fulfills the promise that was evident in the band’s previous shorter releases. Not long ago BraveWords delivered the first advance track from Wresting the Revelation of Futlity, and today we bring you another: “Foretold Untethering From Existence”.

The music is at once destructively chaotic and fascinating in its intricacy. The grinding riffs, blasting snare beats, and echoing vocal horrors create an aura of heartless savagery, yet the somersaulting bass lines, frenzied guitar explosions, and rapidly changing rhythms prove to be thoroughly engrossing. On top of that, the morbid, otherworldly melodies have staying power. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: VARATHRON — “KABALISTIC INVOCATION OF SOLOMON”

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Nov 042014
 

 

Untrodden Corridors of Hades is the new album by the long-running, influential Greek black metal band Varathron, their first since 2009’s Stygian Forces of Scorn. In September we featured the album’s first advance track, “Realm of Obscure”, and followed that (here) with the lyric video for “Arcane Conjuring”. Now we bring you the premiere of a third song — which is the album’s opening track — “Kabalistic Invocation of Solomon”.

In this new long song Varathron gradually build an atmosphere thick with the potent vapors of the occult, drawing the listener ever deeper into the mysteries of a dark ritual. At the beginning and again later, a choral chant echoes as if being sung within a catacomb, accompanied by the massive booming of drums and the slow rumbling of the bass. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: PSYCROPTIC, KHORS, GORELUST, PREY FOR NOTHING

 Metal News, Premieres  4 Responses »
Nov 032014
 

 

Happy fucking Monday. Here’s a quartet of recommended songs that I discovered over the last 24 hours, which I hope will prove a good way to help you start your new week.

PSYCROPTIC

As previously reported in these pages, Tasmania’s Psycroptic and Prosthetic Records have joined forces to bring about the release of the band’s new self-titled album worldwide next spring (EVP Recordings will be handling the release in Australia, New Zealand, and Japan). To begin paving the way for the album release, tomorrow (November 4) Prosthetic will release a digital single from the new album, a song named “Echoes To Come”. I’ve gotten to hear the song in advance, and I’m really liking it. Continue reading »

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