AN NCS PREMIERE: EVERTRAPPED — “ARISE FROM THE ASHES”

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Sep 282015
 

Evertrapped-Under the Deep

 

On October 16, Hellstorm Recordz will release the third album by Montreal’s Evertrapped. Entitled Under the Deep, the album “is an exploration of the deepest reaches of human madness” — not clinical madness, “but simply the darkest regions of the soul and the blackest part of the human heart from a mind found to be socially functional, but is really way too far gone”. Today we bring you the premiere of a track from the album named “Arise From the Ashes“. As vocalist James Brookes explains:

“‘Arise From The Ashes’ is a depiction of someone who has actually reached the bottom, so their rise from there so to speak. Like the king of their own universe broken by all clawing it’s back, but fueled by an ever-consuming hatred.”

The music certainly fits the thematic content — it’s a raging, jolting, hammering piece of savagery that explodes from the gates immediately. But while the music is ferocious as hell (the ferocity enhanced by the extremity of the vocals), and never really pauses to give you a breath, there’s more going on than sonic decimation. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: INVOKER — “SECRETS OF SEED”

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Sep 262015
 

Invoker-Aeon

 

One month ago we had the pleasure of premiering the title track to Aeon, the new second album by the German band Invoker, which will be released by Non Serviam Records next month. Today we bring you another song from the album: “Secrets of Seed”.

Beginning in the vein of a dark, mid-paced dirge, “Secrets of Seed” soon enough begins to roll like a juggernaut, combining elements of black metal and melodic death metal to deliver a song that’s both electrifying and very memorable. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ARKAIK — “AWAKEN THE I”

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Sep 242015
 

Arkaik-Lucid Dawn

 

Lucid Dawn is the name of the third album by SoCal’s Arkaik, and it’s scheduled for worldwide release on October 30 by Unique Leader Records. As a sign of what the album holds in store, today we bring you the premiere of the album’s fifth track, “Awaken the I“, via a lyric video.

Lucid Dawn continues a dystopian concept story involving the protagonist Cyrix that began in the band’s last full-length (2012’s Metamorphignition), and it features the contributions of new guitarists Miguel Esparza (ex-Hatriot) and Greg Paulson, as well as guest appearances by Trevor Strnad and Ryan Knight of The Black Dahlia Murder, as well as Bay Area live string quartet, Amaranth. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: MUTILATRED — “DISSECTING YOUR FUTURE”

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Sep 242015
 

Mutilatred-Dissecting Your Future

 

Mutilatred chose their name well, concocting a word that won’t be found in the dictionary but accurately conveys the sense of mutilating hatred that radiates from every song on their debut album, Dissecting Your Future. Today we bring you a full stream of the album in advance of its September 25 release by Seeing Red Records.

There’s nothing fancy about this music. It’s stripped-down, down-tuned, primal in its brutality, and remorseless in its delivery, combining an atmosphere of malevolent darkness and physically dismantling grooves, as if Incantation and Devourment had found a ground zero where they could jointly detonate an apocalyptic weapon. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DEFORMATORY — “INFERNAL GATEWAY”

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Sep 242015
 

Deformatory - Malediction - Cover Art by Jon Zig

 

According to the first verse of the Book of Genesis, when God created the earth, it “was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep”. He said, “Let there be light”, but the darkness came first; in the words of the band Deformatory, “it was already alive, forever and eternal”. God divided the Light from the Darkness on the first day, but “that division has eroded”.

And that idea became the seed of Malediction, the second record by this band from Ottawa, Ontario, and the first in a series of concept albums revolving around an entity named Saväel, the creator of the Darkness. “In Malediction, the story follows the discovery of the sacred incantation text, his re-awakening, and the subsequent obliteration of the Light, the Heavens, and all remnants of humanity.”

Today we bring you the premiere of “Infernal Gateway”, the album’s first track and the beginning of this story about the rebirth of a timeless evil. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: BLOODSTRIKE: “IN DEATH WE ROT”

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Sep 242015
 

Bloodstrike-In Death We Rot

 

Almost exactly one year ago I discovered a two-song demo named Necrobirth by Colorado’s Bloodstrike that totally knocked me on my ass (as I said here).  At that point, the word was that Bloodstrike was working on a debut album that they projected for release this year — and now, sure enough, it’s upon us.

The name of the album is In Death We Rot, and it is nothing but Grade A nourishment for the death-worshipping souls of people like me, and all other fans of early ’90s death metal who haven’t convinced themselves that the only albums worth listening to were released 20 years ago. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ONIRIK — “INVOCATION AND DEFIANCE”

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Sep 232015
 

Onirik-Casket Dream Veneration

 

We metalheads may be different in some important ways from the people who don’t share our passion for abrasive, aggressive music, but in some ways we’re not so different: In our listening, many of us find comfort in what is familiar, and sometimes instinctively shy away from bands who have stepped off the usual beaten paths. But sometimes when that happens, the results can be exciting, even if the music is different and challenging on first listen.

Casket Dream Veneration, the new album by the Portuguese band Onirik, maintains a spiritual devotion to the traditions of black metal, but the band are definitely following their own path, and the music is a rewarding experience in part because it does sound different from much of the music that now travels under the black flag.

Take, for example, the track from the album that we’re premiering today: “Invocation and Defiance”. Continue reading »

THY CATAFALQUE: A REVIEW OF “SGÚRR” AND THE PREMIERE OF “JURA”

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Sep 222015
 

Thy Catafalque-Sgurr

 

We are very fortunate to help premiere a song named “Jura” from Sgùrr, the new album by the remarkable Thy Catafalque. The album has been one of my most-anticipated releases of 2015 — and my expectations were very, very high, given the quality of Thy Catafalque’s most recent albums, 2011’s Rengeteg and 2009’s Róka Hasa Rádió. Yet as lofty as those expectations were, Sgùrr has exceeded them.

I won’t blame you if you now jump to the end of this post and start listening to “Jura”, but there may still be reasons to read the review that precedes the song stream, because no one song on this album tells you what you need to know about the rest of it.

I hasten to add that I’m not sure I can tell you what you need to know either. When you encounter an album as varied and unusual as Sgùrr, the typical genre references and descriptive adjectives go out the window, and that leaves me feeling even more helpless than usual in trying to find the right words. Of course, as mentally hobbled as I am by these limitations, I’m soldiering on anyway. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE: SHRINE OF INSANABILIS — “DISCIPLES OF THE VOID”

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Sep 212015
 

Shrine of Insanabilis-Disciples of the Void

 

About a month ago we brought you a clue to what lies within Disciples of the Void, the debut album by a mysterious entity known as Shrine of Insanabilis, with our premiere of a song from the album named “Ruina“. Now we are privileged to lift the veil all the way off as we deliver a full stream of the album in advance of its September 22 release by W.T.C. Productions.

Actually, that metaphor about lifting the veil is an overstatement, because the identities of the band’s members are still concealed, and the music itself remains mystical. But that’s only part of its allure. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): MORD’A’STIGMATA — “OUR HEARTS SLOW DOWN”

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Sep 212015
 

Mord'A'Stigmata-Our Hearts Slow Down

The remarkable new EP by Poland’s Mord’A’Stigmata is named Our Hearts Slow Down. Although the title has meaning in the context of the music, your hearts will not slow down when you hear it. Unless you’re listening to the EP just as you’ve lost your brakes while bending through a hairpin curve on a mountain highway, we can assure you that you hearts will beat faster. You can tell us if we’re wrong — because at the end of these words you can listen to the EP from start to finish.

Black metal is at the core of this music, but whatever instinctive reactions you may have to that genre label, good or bad, put them aside. On this EP, you can tell that Mord’A’Stigmata had a vision that didn’t conform to established forms, and they bring into play a number of diverse musical styles to create a thoroughly narcotic and irresistibly powerful concoction. Continue reading »

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